Hell On Tracks
by Lady Darkhound
Summary: Sensha-do is a martial art dedicated to helping women become better, stronger, and more confident. Foreign exchange student Tally Evans believes wholeheartedly in that ideal, but Saunders and its Tankery team may provide more of a challenge than the novice tanker is prepared for. Cover art made by B-Baka!
1. Chapter 1

**Hell On Tracks  
****Part 1**

Watching a school ship come into port was an awe inspiring moment. How the Japanese had managed to build a large number of ships that were multiple miles long and hadn't run out of fuel, money, or building materials, I wasn't quite sure. But one was right here, sitting only a mile offshore. Saunders University High School, my soon-to-be home away from home.

The ship itself was much too big to dock at any American port this far north, due to the turbulent and tight waterways of the Columbia River and Strait of Jaun de Fuca, but that just meant a smaller transport would be bringing a number of the girls academy's students and staff to shore. In addition to picking up myself and a number of other foreign exchange students, Saunders had set up a Sensha-do match between their team and Astoria High, which I was going to watch eagerly once all of my stuff got onboard.

"C'mon Tally! The ship's here, now let's get going!" My best friend, Rachel, called from the beach parking lot. She was sitting atop the cab of her pickup and had volunteered to drive me to the coast.

I smiled and ran back to the truck. Rachel had the vehicle warmed up and ready to go as I triple checked that all of my stuff was tied down securely in the back. Only one of the bungee cables was out of place, and once I fixed that, we were racing down the road at 20 over the speed limit, whooping like the crazy schoolgirls we were.

* * *

Naturally, we made it to the docks well before the Saunders transport did. A few other foreign exchange girls were there ahead of us, but I didn't go and interact with them at all, preferring to wait on top of Rachel's truck and chat with her about anything and everything. Mostly the upcoming tankery match, but we ventured off on tangents multiple times.

The large steamer coming into port certainly grabbed our attention away from tanks though, and as soon as it was tied down, the front of the ship opened up to let a stream of vehicles off. A couple of military themed trucks, a train of food trucks, and finally, the ones Rachel and I really wanted to see, the tanks. It was… frankly a disappointment, at least as far as tank groups go.

Not to say that tanks are boring or anything! I love tanks! Haha, tanks! It's just that the column that emerged from the transport was nothing but M4 Shermans, with the only variance from the basic short barrel 75 being the A1 with the long 76, and a model that I didn't recognize immediately, but Rachel pointed out was a Sherman Firefly.

"But why a Firefly? Saunders is American themed, so if they need a dedicated anti-tank vehicle, why not a Hellcat, or Easy Eight?" I asked in confusion.

Rachel just shrugged. "Hellcats don't exactly fit with the M4 theme I'm seeing here, and aren't exactly tankery legal without certain mods. I gotta agree on the Easy Eight though. It's just overall better than the Firefly, and is a more reliable gun."

We're tank nerds. Criticising big name teams that can actually participate in the sport since our own school doesn't have the money for it. It's what we do for fun.

After the tanks had all left the ship, someone from Saunders came and introduced themselves in slightly accented English, and directed everyone who was there to drop off students to please move their cars onto the ferry for ease of loading and packing dorms. Rachel drove her truck in while I sat on top of the cab, pointing forwards and giving a glorious battlecry of "Panzer vor!"

That one ended up getting me a few strange looks, but a cheerful looking blonde who was with the greeter person laughed and gave me a wave. I smiled and waved back, and then we were onboard the ship and I had to duck or hit my head, which kind of ruined my whole joke.

Actually moving into my dorm was fairly quick and easy. All of the dorms came pre-furnished, and were solo rooms, so setup consisted of Rachel and I moving my bags, laptop, and the few personal items that make the place feel homey. We had to be sneaky with my electric kettle and tea supply, if the sheer number of coffee machines in the common rooms was anything to go by on their preferred drinks.

"It's weird." I commented to Rachel, as we moved my bed to a slightly better position. "Looking at everything we've seen so far, it's like they're more American here than we are. Cheap fast food, coffee shops all over the place, signs in English and _then_ in Japanese. And a whole bunch of other things, really."

"You're right, that is weird." Rachel responded. "Though a lot of the school ships have themes like this, so it's not unheard of."

"Like Saint Gloriana being overly British?"

"Exactly!"

With one final shove, we slid the futon into place and sat down for a moment. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and checked the time.

"We've got just over an hour before the ferry leaves back for the mainland. Wanna check out the Sensha-do club and see if they have any tanks that _aren't_ Shermans?" I asked.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Hello one and all, and welcome to Hell On Tracks! I am crossposting this from Sufficient Velocity after a few requests from friends to upload it here. I hope y'all enjoy the madness to come!


	2. Chapter 2

**Hell On Tracks  
****Part 2**

It took a bit of asking around and getting directions, but Rachel and I made our way over to the Saunders Tankery garage. Interestingly enough, they actually called it the English "Tankery" rather than the more traditional "Sensha-do." Tangent aside, the building was about what you would expect, large, blocky, and with multiple rolling garage doors to get at the interior.

The first person we met was that same blonde who laughed at my antics at the ferry. She immediately smiled and waved as we approached, probably recognizing us not by the vehicle we were in, but by my standing just behind the pickup truck's cab and just generally being an absolute madlass as Rachel drove at speeds bordering on "too much."

What can I say? I like the feeling of the wind against my face.

Blondie finished scarfing down a burger as soon as I hopped out of the bed of the still moving truck while Rachel went off to park somewhere that wasn't the side of the road.

"Hello!" She greeted in heavily accented English. "I'm Kay, captain of the Tankery team!"

"Tally Evans, new foreign exchange student." I said, offering a hand to shake. Kay took my offered hand, and used it to pull me into a tight hug. She must have noticed how uncomfortable I suddenly became, because she released the hug mere moments after initiating it.

"Sorry." She admitted sheepishly. I sighed and relaxed, which Kay took as an opportunity to speak up once more. "You here to see the tanks?"

"Yeah. I'd like to wait for my friend Rachel, though. She's just as into Sensha-do as I am."

Kay smiled broadly. "What's your favorite tank?"

That was a loaded question if there ever was one, and I took a moment to ponder it. The expected answer would probably be the Sherman, but they were honestly just so bland, as were the T-34 and Tiger. Big, popular, and overblown. A few oddballs sprung to mind, but slow monsters like the Jagdtiger or T28 Superheavy just didn't bring that rush of excitement beyond the significant emotional event of being shot at.

"It's not a proper tank, but the M18 Hellcat." I finally settled on. "Though if you want Sensha-do legal, I'd say the M5 Stuart."

"Oh?" Kay asked. She switched to Japanese to better articulate her next sentence. "Wouldn't you prefer something that can actually take a hit?"

"Hai." I responded, also switching to Japanese. "But if you look at historical kill ratios in the war, you would see that nothing quite compared to the Hellcat. Also, I like going fast."

A familiar cough grabbed my attention, and both Kay and I turned to see Rachel approaching.

"Hi Rach!" I said with a wave. "This is Kay, the Senasha-do captain for Saunders."

"Rachel Knight, Tally's friend and also her chauffeur for the day."

"Nice to meet you!" Kay exclaimed in her heavily accented English. She went and offered her hand to Rachel, and I noticed with some irritation that she didn't even try to pull Rach into the hug.

"So, tanks?" I asked. Kay laughed, and pulled both of us into the Tankery garage, to reveal a large portion of Saunders' tanks for us to admire.

It was a very impressive number of vehicles. Three rows deep, and a great number that I couldn't really count from this angle wide. Entirely made up of M4 Shermans with the short 75. There was a fourth row in the back, but from what I could tell, that one just had variants of the Sherman rather than something new and interesting.

"My disappointment is immeasurable, and my day is ruined." I joked in a very flat deadpan. Rachel gave me a stern look, while Kay turned around and stared at me in shock.

"You don't like them?" She asked in her native Japanese.

Okay, maybe that was a bit harsh. But seriously, _Shermans?_ Nothing but Shermans, as far as the eye can see.

"Do you have anything that's not a Sherman or Sherman variant?" I asked, very sincerely.

Kay nodded, as if I had offended her family with my remark, and ran off to the back. Rachel gave me a very disappointed jab in the side with a stiff finger, and we chased after Kay.

The team captain led us on a merry chase to what had to be the far corner of the garage. These were the oddballs that I had wanted to see. A pair of M3 Lees with their silly looking sponson mounts, a damaged M24 Chaffee hull with the turret removed, a trio of M22 Locusts with tigers painted on their bows, two M5 Stuarts, an M6 Heavy with its main gun missing, and, to my surprise, an M18 Hellcat.

What must have been at least 60 M4 Shermans, not including those that were currently warming up for the game against Astoria High, compared to ten oddballs, half of which were more or less utterly useless to regular Sensha-do or damaged and unusable.

Naturally, Rachel gravitated towards the M6 as soon as she saw the heavy tank. With a quick "may I?" and a lift from Kay, Rachel slotted herself into the TC position in the heavy tank, managing to smash her bust into the edge of the hatch as she descended.

Rachel immediately began barking out orders to imaginary crewmembers, and both Kay and myself began cracking up into laughter.

I then wandered my way over to the M18 and climbed atop it, just sitting on the upper hull for a moment. It was only my second time ever actually being on a tank, and I wanted to savor this moment.

"You like it?" Kay asked me, grabbing my attention before I could devolve into wonderland as Rachel was currently doing.

"I do." I said, patting the gun barrel next to me. "Hellcat's my favorite for a reason. I just wish she were Sensha-do legal."

"Me too." Kay said, climbing up and sitting next to me. "The Sesnha-do committee has some requirements that we could meet, but we are still getting approval."

"Really?!" I exclaimed.

"Hai. It will take some time, and she'll need some modifications, but we might be able to get her." Kay explained, as I began silently fangirling about the mere idea of actually being able to take an M18 into Sensha-do combat.

"Do you have anything else cool here?" I asked, curious now that my disappointment over the Shermans had faded. Kay nodded, and hopped off the TD. I followed her, and made sure to grab Rachel before we left her behind.

"This way!" Kay yelled pointing somewhere into the midst of the line of Shermans. "Panzer vor!"

Once more, Rachel and I had to run to keep up with the very excitable Kay.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hell On Tracks  
****Part 3**

Kay spent the next twenty minutes showing us various tanks in the Sherman arsenal, and the Suanders history that they might have had. A particular M4 with the short 75 that had been her predecessor's command tank, and had scored a kill against one of Kuromorimine's Konigstigers by driving up to point blank of the heavy and hammering AP into the turret ring until it popped the white flag. This Sherman Jumbo had only survived a match because it got bogged down in mud at exactly the right time to avoid taking a flank shot from one of BC Freedom's ARL 44s, and BC Freedom's flag tank was disabled before the ARL could take a second shot. Their other Jumbo was undergoing significant repairs after taking a KV-2 152mm shell to the rear, ruining its engine and engine deck even with all of the safety measures that Sensha-do had in place.

There were more stories than you could shake a stick at, and it sounded like Saunders often used their sheer number of vehicles to field multiple teams in multiple tournaments all at once. Rachel near melted into a puddle of gooey giggles at the thought of the hordes of Shermans all going at once, though I was less prone to fits of that kind of fangirling and the random screams of "haha, tanks!" than her.

Sooner than any of us tank nerds would have liked, someone's phone beeped, and we had to leave if we wanted to catch the ferry back to shore. Kay offered to drive us in one of Saunders' authentic Willys Jeeps, but Rachel declined, since we had to get her pickup ashore anyways. Kay and I instead climbed into the bed of the truck and talked tanks as Rachel zipped along towards the docking bay for the ferry.

"So, what's your favorite tank?" I asked, already expecting the obvious answer.

"M4 Sherman. It's a well rounded tank with reliable armor, weapons, and mobility." Kay answered readily. I nodded, having expected that answer. "However, it's also very useful to have a number of the exact same-looking tanks. If you hit-and-fade from one direction, and then hit them again from a different direction, you can convince the opponent that you have more tanks committed than you actually do, while your other operational platoons are may think we use overwhelming numbers, but we actually use tactics, strategy, and misdirection to make people think we use overwhelming numbers."

"And then you have your specialist tanks to deal with problems as necessary, while keeping supply and maintenance simple because they're all Sherman variants." I said, nodding along with the thoughts. It was clever. Didn't make me like the M4, but it was clever thinking.

"Exactly!" Kay cheered, though anything else was cut off as Rachel took a turn rather sharply and then came to a dead stop, throwing Kay and I around a little bit. Not badly, but enough to make my head spin.

* * *

The trip back to shore was fairly boring, though Rachel and I used it to get to know Kay a little better, talking things other than tanks. Favorite foods, favorite classes, fun things to do in free time that don't involve tanks. Apparently, Kay was licensed to fly a C-5M Super Galaxy as part of Saunders' Airlift Division, though she preferred to let Naomi (the Firefly's commander and sometimes gunner) do the actual flying.

We parted ways with Kay when we hit shore, as she needed to go meet up with the Tankery team while they warmed up. Rachel and I went and picked up some lunch that was slightly healthier than the burgers and other assorted fast food that seemed to be common fare onboard Saunders.

"Looking forward to the game?" Rach asked, as if I wasn't.

"Of course! High school Sensha-do is fun and all, but the Japanese practically invented the sport. It's like comparing American soccer to European football, they're both the same sport but one is clearly a more refined art." I said after swallowing a mouthful of my salad.

"So you expect Saunders to win."

"Probably." I admitted. "The Fishermen have a KV-1, but their lineup is otherwise pretty uninspiring."

"You say that, but they're being compared to a lineup of Shermans. That's almost the epitome of boring but practical." Rachel deadpanned.

"And they're more capable than Matildas or StuGs with their howitzers. And that's ignoring the 38(t) scout."

"Point conceded. Should be an interesting fight, though. What do you expect the flag tanks to be?"

I didn't answer for a moment, taking another bite of my salad as I thought. "Saunders uses the A1 as their flag, though I'm not sure about Astoria. A Matilda or the KV would make the most sense."

* * *

After lunch, we set off to the seating arrangements for the Sensha-do match. Due to the scale of the games, it was impossible to have seating that could watch the whole field like at a football or baseball game, so the bleachers were set up just off of the marked off Tankery field, with a pair of massive screens set up. One of the screens had a live updating tactical map that showed the locations of each of the tanks, as well as showing a list of the tanks for each team off to either side. The other was a live camera feed that was streamed from a helicopter following the action, wherever that may be.

The lineups were pretty much what I expected. The M4A1 with the 76 was Saunders' flag, commanded by the vice captain, Arisa, while Astoria had decided on their KV-1 to be their flag.

"Welcome to the non-league match between the Astoria Fighting Fisherladies, and the Saunders University High School Tankery team!" The announcer began. On the main screen, the team captains, Kay and some girl from Astoria, shook hands, bowed, and received rides back to their respective teams. "This will be a flag tank battle, where the winner will be decided by who eliminates whose flag tank first. Captains, are you teams ready?"

Down in the field, Kay gave a big thumbs up, and called an affirmative through her radio as soon as she was aboard her M4. Moments later, Astoria's captain did the same from the KV's TC's hatch.

"On your marks, get set, roll out!" The announcer called, as one of the judges fired a flare into the air, signifying the start of the match.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hell On Tracks  
****Part 4**

The Saunders-Astoria match was actually taking place in a larger than usual area. Most matches take place in a roughly 2 kilometer by 2 kilometer box, with changes being made to the area depending on natural features and city limits. This one was taking place on Cape Disappointment, from the coastline up to about where downtown Ilwaco was, in an area that was roughly half again as large as usual, though not quite as wide or squarely shaped.

Astoria's tanks started on the northern edge of the arena, in the middle of the forest. It was going to be a great defensive boon to their slower but very well armored Matildas. Saunders had started further south, closer to the beaches and the tip of the cape. There was about a kilometer between the two start points (the captains had gotten transport back from their meeting point, Kay via a Willys Jeep, and the Astoria girl by a helpful mom), which meant that if the two groups charged head on, they would meet reasonably quickly and could have a no-holds-barred brawl in the forest.

Such a fight would benefit Astoria, with their heavier armor and weaker guns needing to get closer to punch through a Sherman's armor and disable it. The longer ranges of the open fields on the southern part of the map would give the Shermans an advantage, with the heavier shells in the short 75s having better power at range over the Matilda's 2-pounder guns.

Kay must have recognized as much as well, since she split her forces into three platoons, keeping the flag M4A1 back and behind, driving up the western beaches to keep fairly open sightlines as they advanced. Astoria was moving into the forest in a large wedge with the KV front and center, their two StuG IIIs hanging back with one on either flank. Their Pz. 38(t) was acting as a scout and was moving west, en-route to intercept the platoon of Shermans that was furthest inland.

* * *

The first twenty minutes or so of the match were fairly quiet, as the two teams moved to positions they felt would be advantageous. There was a brief moment of excitement when the 38(t) ran headfirst into the Sherman platoon as I had expected, but it turned and ran after receiving a hail of fire from the trio of M4s.

Well, it didn't run so much as disengage and then start shadowing Saunders' platoon from a different angle. Neither team fired shots at each other, though the Saunders tankers had to have seen the panzer.

"Why aren't they taking out the scout?" Rachel asked, scratching her head.

I didn't have an answer for her until we watched the other two Saunders platoons stop and let the one being shadowed pass before heading into the forest. That's when it clicked for me. "Which is more dangerous, a scout that goes silent, or a scout that's giving wrong information?"

"So they're feeding Astoria wrong information, hoping to catch them off guard as they move into the forest." Rach said. "Very clever."

I nodded, and the helicopter-mounted camera zoomed in on the trio of Shermans just in time to catch their turrets swinging around in a synchronized fashion, and drop a trio of rounds on the target of the 38(t). All three rounds missed, but the M4s simply peppered the panzer with coaxial machineguns until their main cannons were all reloaded. Three rounds later, the cute little panzer had its tracks on one side blown off, and a hit to the rear hull knocked it out, confirming first blood for Saunders.

"Right now, Astoria has the advantage of their main force being currently undetected." I observed towards Rachel.

"But Saunders has the mobility advantage right now, and since they fed some misinformation to Astoria before taking out the scout, Astoria is blind to where their striking force is, too."

I looked around the crowd, and noticed that a couple of other fans were giving us weird looks. Feeling suddenly very self-conscious, I gave Rachel a nudge with my elbow, and she drew silent. That seemed to do the trick, as most of the people around us refocused on the screens with the tankery, rather than us. I followed suit, since the tanks were more important than nerding out about them right now.

Darned heathens. Part of the fun of tankery was nerding out and dissecting what the teams were doing before we saw the results. The cheering and freaking out and carrying on was also part of the fun, but somewhat less entertaining to me.

* * *

There was another lull in the match after the Pz. 38(t) went down. The three Saunders platoons were on the move towards the general location of Astoria's starting point, coming in a three pronged pincer formation, with their flag tank hanging back behind the center group, close enough that it would be able to assist or be assisted, but not close enough that they would be detected with the platoon and could be accidentally taken out early.

On the other hand, Astoria had dug in to a low spot off to the eastern flank, where they were likely to come into contact with Saunders' third platoon, the one with the Firefly. If Astoria could take out the Firefly, Saunders would need to commit their flag tank to the battle as a proper heavy killer, as it was their only other tank that could pen the KV from any reasonable range.

Not that any sort of fighting in the forest would be at a reasonable range. From the looks of things, the Firefly's platoon was going to pass very close to the main Astoria force, and that could be bad for them.

"If Saunders goes to Astoria piecemeal, they're done for." I commented. Rachel just nodded, keeping her eyes on the screen.

Rachel's actions proved to be the right choice, as mere moments later, someone opened fire. I wasn't sure who reacted first, but within moments, a half dozen Matildas were opening up on the two M4s and the Firefly, peppering the Saunders tanks with 2-pdr ammunition. The Saunders tanks shrugged the smaller ammunition off, and angled their armor slightly as they brought their much larger guns to bear.

One of the Matildas went down almost instantly, taken out by the Firefly and some very good shooting, and while the M4s focused their fire, they didn't manage to do much more than scratch damage against the heavily armored Matildas.

Things very quickly escalated from there into a full on firefight between the Sherman platoon and the Matilda force, with fire being exchanged very rapidly. One of the M4s lost a track, but wasn't knocked out and continued firing. The two remaining mobile Saunders vehicles began falling back, until a shot from a hidden StuG III in the rear knocked out the basic M4, leaving just the Firefly as the only mobile tank in the group.

Further north, things also began heating up, as the other two platoons of Shermans rushed to assist their fighting and fallen comrades. Astoria's second StuG wasn't quite as well hidden as their first, and Saunders knocked it out as they charged face first into the KV-1's hiding place.

The surprise was rather brutal for the six M4s, losing one of their own to a 76mm shell from an unexpected angle. The remaining Shermans scattered. Kay's group, at least, I hoped it was Kay's group, circled around the KV-1 as it tried to retreat, trapping the heavy tank.

It was about this point where the crowd went crazy, cheering on every direct hit scored, and cheering even harder when a tank was disabled. Though the Astoria fans and the Saunders fans were more or less separated into their own bleacher sets, I couldn't tell who was cheering for who. Everyone was cheering every which way, now. The fight was more entertaining than who was winning or losing.

There were two firefights going on at the exact same time, and the only unengaged tank being Saunders' flag, which was loitering at the back. All Saunders had to do to win was get a good shot at the weaker side or rear armor of the KV, or even just get stupidly close to the front of the KV, and they'd win the match. Astoria had to knock out the Firefly and the tracked M4, and then rush to the aid of their flag tank, and if they managed that, they still had to hunt down and catch the M4A1 (76), and knock that out.

I think everyone knew how the match was going to turn out at this point. The KV took another M4 with it as it was taken out trying to make a breakout, and the Matildas took out the tracked M4 but not the Firefly, losing another two of their own in the process.

With the disabling of the KV-1, Saunders officially won the match. It was a pretty close game, and with a little bit of luck, Astoria might have been able to seize the win. The recovery trucks began the process of hauling out the damaged and disabled vehicles, and those which were still operational drove out of the forest side-by-side, the Saunders girls trying their best to cheer on the defeated Astoria girls, despite the language barrier.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hell On Tracks  
****Part 5**

The crowd went absolutely nuts as soon as the match ended. The crowd had quieted down as the Saunders encirclement closed in on the flag, but as soon as the KV-1's flag popped up, the fans from Saunders were up on their feet, cheering as loud as possible. Some of the Astoria fans were, too, since by all means it was a good match, but they weren't nearly as loud or as numerous as the Saunders contingent.

Off to my left, Rachel was giving as good as she got. I was right there with her, if less enthusiastic in my screamed cheering. After a long moment and nearly screaming myself hoarse, the cheering died down. People started trickling out of the bleachers and going back to wherever they had come from. A couple of school busses were lined out for the Saunders girls to take back to the ferry, while the locals left via their own transportation. Rachel and I took her pickup down to the docks, and actually managed to catch the Tankery team as they were loading their tanks onto the ferry.

"Tali!" Kay called, hopping out of her tank and running over to meet us. A few other girls followed her over, neither of whom I recognized. Then again, I was a brand new foreign exchange student, I didn't expect to know anyone.

"Hiya, Kay!" I responded as we hopped out of the truck. Kay leapt into a half tackle-half hug monstrosity as soon as she was in range, but I slid out of the way before she could bowl me over. Instead, she impacted the seat that I had been sitting on mere moments ago, and lay there, resting her head on the cushion.

The two girls that had followed her just shook their heads in amusement. The shorter one, with pigtails, laughed a little into her hand, but cut it off as soon as she realized I had noticed.

"Is this… normal, for her?" Rachel asked. When the two Japanese girls gave her a questioning look, I went ahead and translated the question.

"Hai." The taller girl said with a nod, continuing in Japanese. "She's very enthusiastic, and likes hugging people." The shorter girl nodded along with her. Again, I translated for Rachel.

Kay took this opportunity to stand back up and interject into the conversation. "Tali-san, Rachel-san, this is Naomi and Arisa. Arisa, Naomi, this is Tali-san and Rachel-san. Tali-san is a foreign exchange, and is very interested in Tankery."

"Nice to meet you, Tali-san." Naomi said, extending a hand, which I shook.

"It's actually Tally." I corrected. Kay gave me a confused look, while Arisa and Naomi both nodded, understanding the minute but important differences between the two pronunciations.

We conversed about things for a little while. Rachel and I congratulated the Saunders girls on their win, and they told us about what roles they had in the match. Arisa was the flag tank's commander, and was the one who came up with the misdirection idea with Astoria's 38(t). Naomi was the Firefly's commander *and* gunner, which was a weird combination of roles, but apparently she handled it just fine on her own. Kay had been in command of the centermost Sherman platoon, and was the one to actually knock out the KV-1 and secure the match.

Unfortunately, Rachel started feeling a little left out of the conversation after Arisa explained about her little trick with the 38(t). I was doing my best to translate, but I wasn't very speedy with the translations, and made more than a few mistakes in the process.

"Hey Rach, why don't you tell them about your favorite tank?" I asked, trying to keep my best friend in the conversation a little while longer.

Rachel smiled at the attempt. "Well, you might not think it due to my driving, but I love the Churchill heavy infantry tank."

Kay gave Rach a look of shock as I translated for Naomi and Arisa, who nodded along.

"It has all of the armor a decent gun, and while it's slow, it doesn't slow down over rough terrain. There aren't many hills that a Churchill can't climb." Rach continued. "And it's a great stonking heavy tank with *all of the armor!* Haha, tanks!"

Everyone had a good laugh alongside her, because we all subscribed to the methodology of "haha, tanks!" in one way or another.

"How about you, Arisa?" Kay asked in English.

"M1 Abrams." Arisa said, promptly switching back to Japanese. "It's the best tank ever produced by America, and fights through intelligence as well as with its gun. Just look at Operation Desert Storm for why."

It was an acceptable reasoning, but it felt a little like cheating to pick a vehicle that was only Tankery legal in the pro leagues.

"Naomi?" I asked, gesturing for the same question.

"M36 Jackson." She answered. I nodded along, knowing exactly why she would pick such a vehicle. "Not Sensha-do legal without modification, but carries one of the largest allied guns of the war, and was designed as a heavy tank killer."

Yup, exactly what I expected. After all, she was the one putting up with the godawful 17 pdr stuffed into a Sherman turret, so firepower must be important to her. And as both the tank's commander and gunner, to boot.

"Tally-san, what about you?" Arisa asked, as Kay translated Naomi's answer to Rach.

"M18 Hellcat, or M5 Stuart. Hellcat has a good gun and can go very fast, while the M5 can do the same with a smaller frame and a smaller gun. And it's Sensha-do legal, so I might actually get to drive one without having to modify it a lot." I answered.

"So you like going fast." Naomi surmised. I nodded, with a big stupid grin on my face at the mere thought of going fast in a tank. Sure, a car can and would go faster, but there was just something about going reasonably fast while protected by armor plating, as opposed to going fast in a tin can designed to crumple if it hits anything. Haha, tanks!

* * *

Any more conversation we would have had was cut off by the ferry blowing its foghorn. We all turned to the ship, and saw that the buses had loaded, and they were about to leave. Naomi and Arisa gave a salute to Kay before darting off to get onboard. Kay said goodbye, and thanked us for hanging out with her and the team before also leaving.

"So I guess this is it, then." Rachel said after a moment. I scuffed my shoe on the pavement, and didn't meet her eyes. "Don't worry, Tally. You have my phone number and can text me if you want to."

"Thanks, Rach. Sorry I'm going off to a school with tanks while you're stuck at home with none." I apologized.

"Keep that up, and I'll learn some Japanese just to go to a rival school of Saunders and kick your butt into high gear!" Rachel kept a serious face for all of five seconds before we both burst out laughing.

"I hear St. Gloriana is incredibly British themed, so you might get a chance at a Churchill if you do that, Rach."

"Haha, I wish. Have fun at your tank school, Tally!" Rachel said with a smile, hopping back into her truck.

"Have fun at regular old boring school, and don't kill Tasha!" I called with a wave, as I turned to the ferry. The revving of the pickup's engine was the last thing I heard from Rach as she pulled away and I took the steps towards my year away from home.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hell On Tracks  
****Part 6**

The first day of classes passed rather quickly, thankfully. Classes had started for everyone else two weeks prior to picking up the foreign exchange students at the Columbia, so I was a mite behind. Worse, people wanted to meet and make friends with the new American girl, which was a distinctly unpleasant experience. They all wanted to know about my hair (a very natural red, though I couldn't blame them for thinking it was dyed), or what they would need to do to be as tall or as beautiful as I was (their words, not mine. I'm only a bit over average for Americans). I didn't have to shove people away or anything, but I came very close to going full "loud and grumpy American" and driving people away through that.

More importantly, at least to me, I got to pick my mandatory elective, which was a list of a bunch of martial arts, sports, or more home ec style classes. Flower arrangement caught my eye at first, but then I spotted Sensha-do on the list, and that sort of made my choice for me.

Sports and such were an elective instead of a team. Such a weird concept, but honestly, it made sense the more I thought about it. It being a class meant that they couldn't reject you out of hand, and everyone would have some way of participating. Hopefully. I wasn't sure how Saunders would deal with overpopulation in their Sensha-do team, but considering they had well over 70 tanks in their garage, maybe that just wasn't an issue they faced.

* * *

I arrived at the Sensha-do garage a couple minutes before the "class" was supposed to start, and was pleasantly surprised to see things were in full swing already. The four disabled M4s from the match against Astoria were in the parking lot just outside the garage, where teams of girls were going over the vehicles, fixing damaged tracks, replacing parts where necessary, and repainting over scratch marks where they had sustained hits.

Elsewhere, girls were warming up with laps around part of the Tankery complex or pushups, or other kinds of physical exercise. One girl was even doing pullups using the main gun of the Firefly as a bar.

All of the activity was more than a little intimidating, and I tried to fade into the side of the garage, fiddling with my braid in an attempt to seem busy with something. Maybe this was a bad idea. They didn't need another newbie to train up, especially one who had only ever been in a tank twice before. I probably should have just stuck with flower arrangement. At least then I could mostly work on my own and not have-

"Konnichiwa, Tally-san." Someone said, snapping me out of my spiralling thoughts. I looked up to see Naomi approaching.

"Oh, hello Naomi." I responded in English, before quickly swapping to Japanese and repeating myself.

"Welcome to Saunders' Sensha-do team."

"I… thank you." I stuttered. "Where do things start?"

"At the beginning of meetings, Kay calls a general assembly where she tells us what we're doing. Then we get on with our assigned duties for the day." Naomi explained. "Kay asked me to help make sure you were okay and knew what was going on."

"Okay, that makes sense."

I wanted to ask more, but then Kay came over the garage's PA system and called everyone to the stage for daily assignments. Naom led the way, and after a brief argument, we settled in near the back of the large crowd.

Kay's spiel was pretty bog standard, I felt. She congratulated the team on their victory over Astoria, but also pointed out that they could all do better. Crews with damaged tanks were to repair as much as they could with the help of some members of Saunders' automotive club. Crews with undamaged tanks were to perform maintenance on their vehicles. Everyone else was supposed to warm up and do the various drills. They would end the day with a skirmish between the Training Company and the Practice Company, with dud rounds and a one-hit kill style of elimination training match.

Naomi explained that due to their size, Saunders had enough tanks to outfit three full twenty tank teams, with plenty to spare. As such, they were split into the Training, Practice, and Combat companies, which as I understood it roughly translated into C-squad, JV, and Varsity teams, respectively. She also explained that I would not be participating in the usual drills, as she would be leading me through the various roles in a tank to see which one I was best suited for.

Naomi was a harsh mistress in training, though not unfair. We took a barebones M4 out to the end of the training range, and went through the five positions in the tank. Things started with a safety briefing on the M4, then basic instruction on how each of the members of the crew did their job. Then, it was on to testing. Driver was simple enough, especially once I told Naomi that I knew how to drive stick. Steering with the tillers was weird, but I got used to it fairly quickly.

I even seemed competent at driving, even if I took things way too fast for a new learner. That lasted all of about ten minutes, when I managed to tip the Sherman onto its side by taking a corner on the test track too fast. Nobody was hurt, but I was fairly certain I could see Kay laughing at my mishap on the other end of the complex. As soon as we were back upright, Naomi kicked me out of the driver's seat and drove us back to the firing range, where I got to test my next two skills.

Being the gunner was a little more complicated than driving. On paper, it was fairly simple. Put the crosshair over the target, adjust height for range, and use the foot trigger. Adjusting for the drop of the shell wasn't the easiest thing, but it only took me a few shots (okay, more than a few) to get the hang of that, too.

While hitting stationary targets was decently easy once I got used to the sights and gun characteristics, moving targets were another story entirely. Of the ten rounds Naomi said I had for hitting the first moving target, I didn't hit it once. That was where Naomi quite bluntly told me that I was a bad gunner, and to swap with her to the loader's position.

Apparently, I wasn't very good at *that,* either. Or at least I didn't live up to Naomi's expectations for a brand new loader. At this point, I wasn't sure whether she just had a stick up her butt about how good I should be, or I really was that bad. At least my mistakes weren't as bad as tipping the tank onto its side. I doubt she would ever let me live that one down. Kay too, now that I think about it.

It wasn't until I was dropped into the TC's position that I really hit my stride. This particular drill required a full crew, so Naomi conscripted her Firefly's crew to help. We were to run a short training course relying mostly on my ability to spot targets and make callouts to the various crewmembers. I was nervous as all get out, but that faded away as we moved into the course.

"Driver, advance!" I called out, giving minor course corrections as we weaved through. It was nerve wracking, but we were also going slow enough that I had time to identify where to turn and when.

Complications began when I realized that I was also supposed to be spotting threats and targets. There were wooden and cardboard mockup targets painted in the colors of the various schools littered around the course, and it was my job to locate them, ID with reasonable accuracy, get the gunner on target, and give the order to fire all within the span of maybe a few seconds. Naomi, as gunner, would light the target up with either the co-ax machine gun or the Sherman's main cannon, and then we could move on.

"Contact!" I called through the tank's intercom. "Panzer IV, two o'clock!"

The turret traversed, and Naomi serviced the target with a brief burst of machine gun fire.

"Naomi, would you say that was four hundred yards?" I asked, giving my best estimate of the range.

"Five. You were close, though." The gunner replied, before I got the tank moving again.

This continued on for a while, with targets being both easy to spot and not. There was one really sneaky one which was an Italian assault gun hidden under some camouflage at about eight hundred yards. I didn't recognize the model, as it wasn't something that local teams had used back when I was in the States, but whoever had hidden that thing was darned good at their job.

Another fun challenge was when Naomi pointed out that the Sherman's low velocity short 75 wouldn't be able to penetrate the frontal armor of the IS-2 heavy tank, and that we would need to flank the target to disable it. As I didn't see a possibility of charging it head on and not theoretically getting our tank knocked out, I simply commanded the driver to push onwards into the course until we reached a point where we came out again on the IS-2's flank.

When we finally finished the course, Naomi congratulated me on my good commanding and spotting, and said that I would make a fine tank commander. I wasn't sure whether or not I should just melt into a puddle of good feelings or not. I got complimented! On my tankery! In what was my third time ever actually being in a tank! Haha, tanks!


	7. Chapter 7

**Hell On Tracks  
****Part 7**

Naomi had me run a few more drills in all of the positions on the M4 before we called it a day. I'd managed to work up a sweat and yell myself hoarse screaming at people over the tank's intercom, but overall, I felt pretty good about myself. It wasn't until Kay wandered on over to our little corner of the practice range that I started to get nervous about things.

"Hey Tali!" The blonde called, tossing me a light blue Powerade bottle. I stared at her, greatly offended by her offering of the lesser sports drink. "How was practice?"

"It's Tally," I corrected. Once again, Kay didn't seem to get the difference, so I moved along anyway. "And things went pretty okay, at least once I got over rolling a tank."

"Good! Very nice!" Kay cheered in English, giving a big smile.

"Naomi said I wasn't a very good gunner, and my loading was, and I quote, 'subpar for a beginner.'" I groused, before opening up the sports drink and taking a swig. I nearly gagged on the stuff, and resolved to try and get a care package with proper sports drinks or something.

"That's just Naomi. She's very good with the 17-pdr gun on the Firefly, so she expects people to be good with the easier 75."

"Oh, so she has an ego the size of the Firefly's turret?" I snarked. Kay merely nodded, refusing to meet my eyes on that particular comment. "And let me guess, she's right behind me."

"You could say that." Naomi said, from off to my left. She joined the two of us, and addressed Kay. "Tally-san scored below average marks for both the gunning and loading drills, and has had one of the highest scoring failures I have seen for driving. However, her ability to clearly and concisely communicate information makes her a good potential radio operator for a command tank. Even more impressive is her ability to find targets, even camouflaged, and react quickly and properly. Most of the time."

"Most of the time?" Kay repeated, giving me a sidelong glance.

"Contact, CV 33, twelve o'clock, 50 meters. Driver, tracks! Run them down!" I recited dutifully, knowing exactly which incident Naomi had been talking about. This prompted Kay to laugh loudly, quickly doubling over in giggles.

"Gunner, that tank still offends me. Remove it, please." Naomi also quoted, which sent Kay into an even louder fit of giggles.

The Firefly's commander and I waited there quietly while Kay finished her laughter. This took a while, and I contemplated my Powerade, before eventually deciding that I would finish this one off then stick to water. When Kay finally managed to control her giggling, she faced Naomi.

"Final assessment?"

"Tank Commander, to be put into Training Company. I believe tank, ah, five is currently without a commander." Naomi reported. Kay raised an eyebrow at the tank recommendation, though I wasn't sure if that was because she didn't expect to have such a specific recommendation, or because she knew exactly who I was going to be put with. I wasn't sure which scared me more.

* * *

From there, Kay sent Naomi off to return the M4 to its berth, while she took me on the Willys Jeep that she so loved and raced off towards the main pavilion. The Practice and Training Companies were about to have an 8v10 one-hit kill practice match, while the Combat Company and everyone else who wasn't in the fight was supposed to take notes, both to help themselves improve and help the people doing the fighting improve.

As with many things that Saunders did with their Sensha-do team, it was pretty darned clever. The one hit KO's meant that any repairs would be quick and easy, and it was a live combat match. I'd watched many Tankery matches back home, but I'd never really thought about the practicing that goes into them to make them so good. Drills after drills after drills, and then practice matches, yes, but not the thought that went into why things were the way they were. It was all very interesting.

"Tali-san, I want you to take notes on the match too." Kay said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Hrm? You want my thoughts and such?"

"Yeah! You're on the team, so you should be taking notes just like everyone else!" Kay said as she pulled the jeep to a stop by a set of bleachers.

I really shouldn't have expected any sort of special treatment for being new or a foreign exchange student. Just because I was new to the team didn't mean that I wasn't part of the team and didn't have to participate in the various exercises. I had my cellphone with me, so typing up some brief notes on the match shouldn't be too hard.

Kay and I hopped out of the jeep and took our places on the bleachers, fitting in with the rest of the frankly massive crowd. Around 45 of Saunders' tanks had full or partial crews, which meant a large team, even when it was split into three smaller teams. Getting properly introduced to even the Training Company was going to be awful.

I didn't notice it at first, too distracted by the crowd, but Kay and I ended up sitting by a large radio. Intentionally, on Kay's part, no doubt, because once the crowd was settled in, she picked up the receiver of the radio, and began the final preparations for the training match. Arisa was in a watch tower in the middle of the field, acting as a referee, and Naomi was flying the camera drone which would allow everyone in the crowd the ability to actually watch on the Sensha-do's massive jumbotron screen.

"All teams, on your marks! Get set! Begin!" Kay called over the radio, and the match kicked off. And by kicked off, I meant that the Training Company started moving into the arena with all of the cohesion of a random team in any matchmade video game, while the Practice Company moved forward with what seemed to be some coordination and a general plan.

I could already tell that this was going to be painful.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hell On Tracks  
****Part 8**

"This is gonna suck…" I groaned in English. "We're five seconds in and Training Company has already lost."

"Hmm? Why do you say that?" Kay asked, also in English. A few of the others around us gave us a look, but nothing near as bad as Rach and I had received at the Astoria game.

"Look at where the teams are going. The Practice team is coordinating into two groups and going for objectives, the pass in the eastern end, and the hill in the west. On the other hand, the Training team isn't working as a team. Two of them are rushing the hill, with another coming slower and more cautiously. One more is going straight for the bridge in the middle, with no backup. Others are going for the pass, or staying back at their spawn point and waiting. No cohesion to their forces." I explained, gesturing to the Jumbotron with the map on it.

"I see…" Kay said. "So what would you do?"

"With the Training team? Use the numbers advantage, group my forces, and take the high ground. That hill has a very commanding position, and a breakthrough in the pass would get slaughtered by a hail of fire from up there." I paused in my analysis as the two Training M4s rushing the hill ran straight into the four Practice M4s, and got absolutely slaughtered. The first one was met by a hail of 75mm fire, which bought the second a moment to crest the hill, get its gun on target, and eat a shell from the lead Practice Sherman.

"Very good, Tali!" Kay cheered. "So now you've lost the hill and your two scouts. What would you do?"

"Is this a normal sort of questioning?"

"Nope! But I think you have a good tactical mind."

"Oookay." I drawled out, thinking for a moment as I watched the group on the hill rain fire down on the tanks that had remained near Training team's spawn. "Assuming I had gotten the information that my opponent had committed half of their forces to seizing the hill, I would take my remaining forces and try to push through the pass if I had the time to get there before the hill forces could open fire. If not, I would full commit to rushing the hill and seizing it. The one-hit kills mean that my numbers advantage is even more pronounced, and even if I lose a tank or two on the approach, if I can get even trading up top, I have the forces to take out any push through the pass or across the bridge in the middle."

"What about the riverbed?" Kay asked. "It's low enough to be protected from incoming fire except from directly above, and shallow enough that driving through the water won't bog down your vehicles."

"And it has very minimal ability to retaliate and command the battle. Taking the riverbed concedes control of any location of tactical significance, excepting maybe the central bridge." I countered. The ongoing and terribly one-sided battle was forgotten as I focused entirely on the theoretical wargaming. "Going into the riverbed except as a way to cross the river is asking to be defeated."

Kay nodded along, though she was more focused on the match. "Ooh, that has to hurt…"

That was enough to get me focusing back on the match, where the Training team was down to only a few tanks, where the Practice team had only lost one tank while pushing out from the pass. One of the remaining Training tanks had tried to break out of the encirclement via the central bridge, but had been knocked out and had actually fallen off, landing on its side in the shallow riverbed.

In fact, there were only three Training M4s left, compared to Practice only having lost the one. Two of them were caught in the encirclement and were reversing as fast as they could to avoid getting knocked out. The other was… what was it doing all the way over there?

"Which tank is that one?" I asked Kay, gesturing vaguely towards the sole Training M4 not in the encirclement. It was well behind Practice team's lines, and was circling in behind the hill platoon.

"Training Company M4 Sherman medium tank number five." Kay recited. "Working with a three woman crew and no permanent commander right now."

"That's the one Naomi recommended I join?"

"Yes. They need a semi-permanent commander to help reign them in, and their brand of crazier strategies seem like they will mesh well with your ability to analyze a fight and strategize." Kay explained.

"So you're throwing me in with the crazies to help reign them in while hopefully learning something from them in the process?" I deadpanned.

"Yup!" Kay gave me a wide grin and a thumbs up, before turning back to the screen just in time to see the Five Tank knock out the hill platoon's rearguard and advance upon the apparently oblivious rest of that platoon.

While the Five Tank was being sneaky in the back lines, the two remaining Training M4s tried their luck and pushed out, rushing towards the hill platoon. They didn't last particularly long in the headlong charge, but they bought enough time for the Fives to cap two more Practice tanks. The fourth and final member of the hill group caught on after losing their two friends, and greeted the Fives with a 75mm cannon hidden by rocks and brush.

The result was predictable. Training lost all of their tanks, though they managed to kill half of the better coordinated and crewed Practice team. Far better than I had expected, but still a pretty awful showing, all things considered.

"So why is tank Five stuck with the Training Company? They fought their tank just as well as any of the Practice Company tanks, and even better than some." I asked, as Arisa officially called the match.

"Because they don't get along with others or work well with a team." Kay explained. "All three of them are… independent spirits who prefer each other's company to anyone else. Brave, courageous, and utterly impossible for me to command. Otherwise, they would be Combat Company material."

"... oh."


	9. Chapter 9

**Hell On Tracks  
****Part 9**

Kay told me that she would introduce me to my new team tomorrow, but then had to run off for "leadership things," which ended up being yelling (politely) at people to get moving into the garage near the stage, where she made the end of class announcements. Mostly to submit our notes on the match to the command team's office by the end of the week, and that a video of the match would go up on the Tankery team's online class page if people needed to re-watch things.

She wrapped things up with a call and response chant entirely in English. "Go go Saunders! Let's go Saunders! Go go Saunders! Let's go ahead!" Being new, I didn't join in, but the energy was infectious enough that I was still on my feet and bouncing up and down just a tad.

Once everyone was dismissed, I wandered my way back to my dorm room. Classes were done for the day, so I brewed myself a cup of tea and got to work on homework. Most of my classes had decently easy stuff, and I had more issues keeping my writing in Japanese than I did actually figuring out the problems.

When my homework was done, I booted up my laptop and found my way to the website for the Sensha-do team, and started rewatching the Training vs Practice match. My notes were a fairly simple analysis of where the Practice team succeeded and the Training team utterly failed, mostly on their ability to coordinate and work together, but also on their situational awareness and general combat ability. It was… pretty generic, all things considered.

And then I went back and rewatched the match again. This time, instead of following the general flow of the battle, which was almost textbook from the Practice team's point of view, I focused on Training's tank number five. Their tactics were unconventional, to say the least.

The Five Tank had been the sole tank to rush forward into the middle of the combat map. In my original viewing, I had deemed them suicidal and written them off mentally, but what they did was actually quite ingenious. Instead of diving straight into a crossfire between the two Practice groups as they pushed towards their objectives, the Five Tank had instead slipped down a slope into the riverbed and waited.

They waited until their teammates met the opposing team at the eastern hill and were knocked out, ensuring that the hill team was focused on the forces in the south rather than their hiding spot in the riverbed. Once the attention was drawn away, the Five Tank rather rapidly followed the riverbed to the Practice side of the base of the hill, pushing up slowly and taking things cautiously. The rearguard didn't have a chance to even alert their teammates, as a well placed shot disabled their tank.

From there, the Five Tank continued their push, hitting the Practice team's flank again while they were distracted with what remained of the Training team trying and failing to rush the hill position. The Five Tank was very efficient in their shot placement, both in laying onto target, and knocking them out. Each tank that fell into their gunsights took only a single shot to knock out, and each shot was well placed to have a better than even chance of knocking the target out without the one-hit KO rules in effect. The rate of fire was rather impressive as well, being well faster than their opponents.

In the end, the Five Tank was only knocked out because they entered a three on one fight, and they still managed to take out two of the three with the odds stacked way against them. A rather impressive result, and that wasn't even considering the tactics they had used to get themselves there.

As I considered the Five Tank's actions, rewatching what sections Naomi had been following them with the camera drone, inspiration struck. A short paper on the results of the match was pretty useless for everyone if we wanted to learn something from it, but a still kind of short paper on a specific tool that was used during the match, how it was used well and how it wasn't… that would be both a good paper and useful for everyone.

I carefully set aside the paper I had already written, just in case I fell asleep mid-writing, and pulled out a fresh sheet to write on. Concealment, how it was used well and how it was used poorly. Examples of good use were stuff like the Five Tank using the riverbed to stay hidden from the advancing forces, or the hill group using the various bushes there as light cover to conceal their location. Poor uses went to the pass team after they emerged from the valley, as there simply wasn't any cover to take advantage of in that particular area, and to most of the training team, who simply positioned their tanks smack dab in the middle of open ground, or rushed straight into the enemy without any care in the world.

When I was done, my tea had long since gone lukewarm, my writing arm was starting to cramp, and I had a paper that was a fair bit longer than I had originally intended, going fairly in-depth on each use of cover, and why it was good or bad. Or just awful in the case of those who ignored it, but that wasn't really the point. With a tired yawn, I threw the lukewarm tea into the sink and crawled into bed still in my regular clothes, too tired to even care about cleaning myself up. Future me could deal with that.

* * *

Past me was a horrible person who really needs to better learn how to care for herself. I woke up tired, stiff, and in my now rather wrinkled school uniform, and I stunk to high heaven. If I weren't such an early riser (thank you alarm clock that could wake a dead rock), things could have been bad, at least for appearances.

Thankfully things didn't go that poorly, and I could get myself cleaned up before most of the student body (at least in my dorm) was up and moving. I had just finished my shower and was returning to my dorm when the first zombie entered the halls. With dead eyes and a stumbling, staggering gait, Arisa wandered through the halls, making a beeline for the common rooms where the wall's worth of coffee makers was stored.

Then and there, I resolved once more to never imbibe coffee, and to wean myself off of my caffeinated tea. Being a zombie Tally in the mornings was something that I never, ever wanted to be, and that meant sleeping well and not being addicted to the lifeblood of America that was caffeine.

I slipped past the barely-awake vice commander of the Tankery team, and back into my dorm, where my electric kettle had warmed my water to a level just under a boil. With a grimace, I put a peppermint tea bag into my mug instead of my usual English Breakfast, and let that steep. I didn't need caffeine.

I didn't.

I had a travel mug full of good old caffeinated English Breakfast by the time I left for morning classes, and I savored the flavors as well as the energizing caffeine.


	10. Chapter 10

**Hell On Tracks  
****Part 10**

Classes were classes. Nothing particularly exciting, especially now that people were starting to get over the hype of having a new American student in their class. It would probably take a few more days for things to settle down entirely, but the awe factor of "new person" wasn't near as strong as yesterday had been. What I was both excited about and absolutely dreading was Sensha-do, because Kay had promised to introduce me to my new team.

It probably wouldn't be so terrifying if Kay hadn't mentioned that they weren't exactly the most welcoming group ever. At least I would be getting into a tank pretty much right away (even if it was a Sherman…), and as a TC no less! Rach would be so jealous of me right now. She's stuck at a school with no tankery team, and I got a commander's spot basically on my first day.

A wild Willys Jeep interrupted my walk to the Tankery garage. Kay was at the wheel, and was apparently just as insane a driver as Rach and I were, because she pulled the jeep into a drift that _somehow _managed to end up as a perfect, if backwards, parallel park right next to me. The Tankery captain waved at me with that big stupid grin of hers, and gestured for me to hop in. "Hey Tali! Want a ride?"

"For the record, it's Tally." I stated as I hopped in next to her. Kay gave me a sidelong glance of confusion, but shrugged it off, getting the jeep back moving at ludicrous speeds. "What brings you along this route?"

"I have class on the other end of the school!" Kay shouted over the winds whipping past our faces. "So I drive to make sure I'm on time to Tankery!"

"Wait, like the other end of the ship?" I asked, confused. These ships were massive enough that having classes spanning from one end to the other might be reasonable.

"No, just the main school building!"

Oh. That made more sense. And she was just going fast for the sake of going fast. Not a bad reason, all things considered. Going fast was fun. Not quite as fun as tanks, but still fun.

* * *

Kay drove quietly for a bit. It wasn't until we slowed down that I realized Kay was taking a roundabout path towards the Tankery garage. At this point, we were just sort of cruising down the roads, making the occasional turn to keep us more or less pointed towards the garage.

"So, Tali." Kay began in English. "What got you into tanks?"

I pondered the question for a moment, both thinking back to how I originally got into the whole concept, and why Kay had started the chat in English. "It was so long ago, I can't rightly say. My family always tuned into pro league Sensha-do whenever it was on TV. We rooted for the local team, the Seattle Thunderers, but they weren't the best team out there. Sheridans are nice and all, but they can't compete very well with most MBTs as a team's primary tank. I guess that was kind of what got me into it. Just, being around Sensha-do as a sport while I was a kid."

Kay nodded along with my story. "So it's just a sport to you. Good, good…"

_That_ certainly raised an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"There are a few families in Japanese Tankery that take things too seriously." Kay said, as she pulled the jeep over to the side of the road. She dug a tablet out of her backpack and brought up a specific page. "In the tournament finals last year, Kuromorimine lost because their flag tank's commander jumped out to help the crew of a Panzer III that had slipped into a river and was submerged. Pravda took advantage of the opening and knocked out her Tiger."

"Was the submerged crew saved?"

"Yes. However, the Tiger's commander was the daughter of the Nishizumi house of Sensha-do. At the start of this year, she was no longer part of Kuromorimine's Tankery team. Arisa suspects she might even be at a different school entirely." Kay played the clip on the tablet, and I watched with mild horror as the Pz. III slipped off the road and into the violent looking river. Nobody called a timeout to try and help them, nobody joined the Tiger's commander as she dove into the river, nothing. Just a T-34/85 taking the shot and knocking out the flag tank.

"That's horrible! Both the actions during the match and what happened to the Tiger's commander. Why wouldn't they call a timeout and help them?"

"People take the sport too seriously. To them, winning is more important than anything. It's why I try and keep everyone pumped up and enthusiastic about tanks instead of serious. The tanks wouldn't like us if we did bad things in the name of the sport." Kay said. I knew that the Japanese were serious about their sport, they practically invented it, but this was a bit much.

"It's about having fun, not necessarily about winning." I summarized.

"Exactly! Though, winning doesn't hurt, so long as we play fairly."

"... no such thing as a fair fight…" I mumbled. I got her point, but that other point had been drilled into me at a young age.

"What was that?"

"Nothing!" I said quickly. Kay's doubting look made me pretty sure she had heard my comment, but she shrugged and ignored it.

* * *

After our brief chat about Tankery, Kay put the gas pedal back down and off we went towards the Tankery garage. On a scale from one to me, I'd rate her driving just under a Rachel. Kay had all of the speed and enthusiasm of Rach's driving, but lacked some of the fine control Rach had at high speeds. Also helping Rach's case is the fact that her pickup actually has some level of suspension, while the jeep hit every bump and dip with the same heavy impact. Not the most fun feeling ever.

When we finally pulled in to the garage's parking lot, both Kay's and my own hair were well windswept and messy, and we were laughing like a pair of crazed schoolgirls. Which we were, but the analogy still stood. The tankery area was already a bundle of activity, with girls running around, exercising, warming up, and generally preparing for the class session.

Of particular note was an M4 parked smack dab in the middle of the parking lot, with smoke billowing out from its exhaust pipes, and a little white flag waving softly in the wind. Two girls were sitting atop the vehicle aimlessly, while a third was being berated by an irate woman in mechanic's coveralls.

"Tali, that's your new crew." Kay said, pointing to the disabled tank.

I gave her a look. "_That's_ my crew? They managed to disable their tank in the middle of the parking lot!"

"Give them a shot. I think you can do it!"

"Great…" I groaned, giving the three tankers a closer look. In addition to their usual school uniforms, all three were wearing large brimmed hats, and the one being berated by the mechanic had a nice looking poncho on. Their ensemble kind of reminded me of a classic Western, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out which one, or if they were following a particular theme with their outfits.

Other little details of note was that the one under the mechanic's ire was blonde, though a faker-looking blonde that was probably produced by dyes rather than naturally. The one sitting atop the gun's barrel had black hair and a scowl affixed to her face, while the one on the engine deck had a sombrero instead of a rounder hat that wasn't quite a Stetson like the other two, and brown hair going down to her mid back.

"Come on, let's introduce you!" Kay said, hopping out of the Jeep and practically dragging me over to the tank.

"What's with the cowboy hats?" I asked as Kay dragged me along.

"I think they were inspired by the Chief. He's our Tankery instructor, and a former American tank commander."

"Ah."

"Heeey!" Kay called, waving over at the four we were approaching. "Lina, can I have a moment with the crew?"

The mechanic nodded, cutting off her stream of curses (I counted at least English, Japanese, and Spanish in her repertoire). She pivoted on one heel, waving her wrench like a club at the tankers before walking off to deal with some other problem.

"What do you want?" The girl with the poncho asked in Japanese.

"This is your new tank commander!" Kay responded. "Tali, introduce yourself."

"Hi. I'm Tally, and apparently, your new TC." I deadpanned, unenthusiastic.

"We don't need a new-" Poncho girl cut off suddenly, I'm pretty sure because she was on the receiving end of a Kay glare. "I'm Blondie, our driver."

The girl sitting on the turret spoke up next, tipping her cavalry hat. "Angel Eyes, the gunner."

The third girl adjusted her small sombrero and waved. "Hello Tally-san! I'm Tuco, our loader and temporary commander!"

It was about Tuco's introduction where things hit me. Their nicknames and styling was after a Western alright. It just so happened to be one about three kind of horrible people, titled The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. If they were _anything_ like the characters whom they were named for, this was going to suck…


	11. Chapter 11

**Hell On Tracks  
****Part 11**

Soon after introductions, Kay darted off with a quick mention of getting burgers, leaving me to interact with my new team. Naturally, once the Captain was gone, everyone's demeanor shifted from grudging acceptance to giving me the cold shoulder. Angel Eyes in particular didn't even acknowledge my existence, focusing on making sure that the turret on the M4 worked just fine. Blondie grumbled something about "new blood" but didn't press the matter and tried to manually reset the tank's power to get it moving and out of the center of the parking lot.

"Don't worry about them too much. They just don't get along with people very well." Tuco apologized, sliding up next to me and putting her arm around my shoulder to draw me closer to the tank. I just shook my head and let her lead me. "We have a slightly different way of doing things in our tank, so let me give you the details…"

* * *

Tuco spent a while giving me the rundown on how they handled things, even as Blondie cursed out the Sherman's engine for being an unreliable hunk of junk, and the mechanic Lina came back, yelled at Blondie some more, and called an ARV to pull the tank back to the garage. We all followed the tank, gathering around it again once it was settled into the garage.

Most of what they did was fine, if a little weird at times, but some of their traditions were downright concerning. Angel kept a log book full of kills, which included ones in live-fire drills, practice, skirmishes, and the one actual match they had participated in. Naturally, this meant all but one of the logged kills were M4s and their variants. The one proper kill was a T-34/76 that they got during a losing battle against Pravda, and everything else was earned during training. Not a very good showing for a team that religiously logs their kills.

Even more concerning was the lax stance they held on conducting maintenance, preferring to do other activities during the allotted hour for basic maintenance. But since Tuco refused to elaborate on what exactly _that_ meant, I pushed it into a back corner of my mind. Something for future me to deal with.

When I mentioned that perhaps the lack of maintenance had a part to play in the tank's very sudden breakdown today, Blondie turned on me angrily and unleashed a couple of threats for possibly shaming her baby before Tuco managed to talk her down.

"The auto club keeps her in moving shape without our help." Angel input with a shrug, speaking up for the first time since introductions.

"That's not the point. What if the tank breaks down in the field and needs rapid repairs?" I countered.

"Then we fix her. Fixin' a tank ain't that hard." Blondie said. I wanted to say something rude, but restrained myself. Losing my cool wouldn't do me any good when I was the new addition to the crew.

Thankfully, Tuco intervened before I could lose my cool. "Hey, since our tank is out for the count, how about we go deal with some stuff over thataway?" She gestured with her thumb over to a mostly empty corner of the garage.

"What's over there?" I asked, confused.

"Nothin' you need to worry about. Just some stuff we've been workin' on since before you joined." Blondie added. "Why don'tcha go watch the other teams practice? We'll take care'a things over here."

"Okay…" First day, and they were already ditching me. Great. I made a mental note to talk with Kay about their… themness, as well as with that mechanic, Lina, about the lack of maintenance and what could be done to deal with that whole mess.

* * *

The sun was really bright overhead as I walked out of the relatively shaded garage. The open seas were nothing like home, where it was cloudy five days out of seven, and rainy the other two. I went to dig my sunglasses out of my pocket, but they were missing. Unfortunate, but they were only cheap disposable shades which I had gotten at a baseball game before leaving for Saunders.

Without my shades, I opted to use my hand as a visor and looked around for any familiar faces or tanks. After a moment of scanning, I noticed an M4A1 at the firing range, getting some extra practice in before the class officially started. More importantly, a familiar head was sticking out the TC's hatch. Arisa, the vice captain and commander of the flag tank.

I wandered my way over to the range, making sure to stay well back until the tank pulled back from the firing ridge. This took a little while, and the rhythmic rumbling of the 76mm gun was quite soothing. Kudos to whoever Arisa's loader was, because not only were those shots fast, they were perfectly timed, never missing a beat. Eventually though, they did come off the ridge, and I waved to Arisa.

"Hey, Arisa!" I called, grabbing the vice-captain's attention.

"Ohaio, Tally-san!" Arisa called back once she turned and saw who I was. She said a few words to her turret crew before hopping out of the tank and jogging over to me. "You're early."

"Kay gave me a ride."

"Oh, that was nice of her. She never gives me or Naomi a ride to Sensha-do." Arisa said. "Did she just drop you off and head off to get food or do leadership stuff?"

"Pretty much. Introduced me to my new crew, and then skedaddled to get burgers."

"Oh, who's your new crew?"

"You might have saw their tank in the middle of the parking lot with a white flag." I said, throwing a thumb over my shoulder.

Arisa gaped at me for a moment. "Kay put you with _them?!"_

"They have a reputation?" I asked, suddenly very concerned.

"San'nin no Tōzoku. The Three Bandits." Arisa said, as if that explained everything. "Those delinquents have a reputation for being lazy, greedy, and unpleasant to be around. They even cost us the semifinals in last year's autumn tournament."

"Oh?"

"San'nin no Tōzoku were assigned to be the flag tank's escort, my escort, in the match against Pravda. They were good fighters, but Kay didn't trust them to stick with a platoon. She shouldn't have trusted them to stay with the flag tank, either, because the first sign of a T-34 had them rushing off to get a kill."

"And when that happened, you got hit?" I assumed. Arisa nodded.

"Not that it was all bad. The finals were between Pravda and Kuromorimine, and as awesome as the M4s are," - I nearly gagged at that comment, but managed to control myself - "they aren't much of a match against Kuromorimine's heavier tanks. Even if our Pershing and M6 weren't lacking in spare parts and were on the field, actually winning would have been very hard. At least Pravda managed to beat Kuromorimine and knock them off their nine championship winning streak."

"Wasn't that the one where a tank fell in the river and the flag tanks commander tried to save them at the cost of the match?" I asked, referencing the clip Kay had shown me not too long ago.

Arisa nodded solemnly. "That was not the greatest moment in Sensha-do's history. But all the same, Kuromorimine lost."

"It's always good to see the reigning champions be kicked off their throne." I nodded. "Hey, so how do you know so much about my new team?

"I'm Kay's intel officer. I hear things." Arisa answered, a smug grin on her face.

Any further conversation was cut off by Kay coming over the PA and the intercoms that Arisa had in her tank, calling everyone to the garage for the day's briefing. Arisa offered me a ride on the M4A1, which I gladly accepted, and we were off to the meeting.


	12. Chapter 12

**Hell On Tracks  
****Part 12**

Kay's opening class announcements were fairly quick and simple. Everyone would be working maintenance, followed by moving and shooting drills. There would be a small 5v5 skirmish at the end of the day, between the Practice Company and the Combat Company, to see if any tanks from Practice were good enough to make Combat Company. She also made the announcement that we would be hosting a series of skirmishes with Maple High School's Tankery team in a couple weeks, and that those matches would be used to help determine which tanks would get to participate in the upcoming 63rd National Sensha-do tournament.

Which gave me two weeks to both get good enough to make at least the Practice Company, and somehow get my new crew to cooperate enough that they could be there with me. Or I could try and see about switching crews, but somehow I don't think Kay would approve of a transfer without me at least giving them a chance.

Once everyone was dismissed, I made my way over to where my brand new tank had been unceremoniously dropped off. Absolutely unsurprisingly, The Three Bandits were missing. Slightly less unsurprisingly, the mechanic, Lina, was hard at work on the M4's engine deck, cursing up a storm as she tried to replace a part.

"Ohaio, Lina-san!" I called, climbing up on the tank's bow.

"Oh, hey there, Tally." Lina replied in English. "Those darned bandits are off gambling again instead of doing proper freaking maintenance. Again."

"Gambling?" I asked.

"Yeah. Penny poker, mostly. And they all cheat like nobody's business."

"Huh." Was all I could really think to say. "Need a hand with that?"

Lina nodded thankfully, and after a quick briefing on what needed doing and how to do it, we got to work on fixing whatever damage the Bandits had ended up doing to my tank. What a weird thought that was. _My_ tank. I had a tank. One that I was to command.

A tank that was mine to fight. Haha, tanks!

* * *

Lina and I worked our butts off though the maintenance period, and when the Bandits came over to see if the tank was in working order again, I told them to either get to work and help fix it, or to scram and stay out of our way. They chose to stay off on the sidelines and continue their gambling. Lazy bums.

I also spent the time getting to know Lina. Carolina was her actual name, but she preferred to go by Lina. Her dad was in the US Army, stationed over in Japan, and he had let her pick which school ship she wanted to go on for high school. Lina said that she was a fan of all sorts of vehicles, but was surprisingly good at keeping tanks in working order when they broke, which was why she was on loan to Tankery instead of spending most of her time with the auto club.

The Sherman didn't end up being fixable for two girls in one day. Whatever the Bandits had done to break it had really messed it up something fierce. So when the daily skirmish came around, Lina and I took a break to watch it. I spent the majority of the match talking tanks and tactics at Lina, but she didn't seem to mind, and she asked enough questions about why one tank was doing something that I think she was actually into the whole thing.

After the fight, Lina and I just ended up getting back to work on the Sherman. We sort of caught Kay's closing announcements, but were too focused on the broken engine to get any real info out of it. People shuffled out of the garage, signalling the end of the class, but Lina and I kept at it.

"It's no good, Tally." Lina said, as the sun began to set. "I still have no idea what those idiots did or how they broke the engine, but at this point it'll be easier to just replace the whole thing."

"And here I thought we were making progress." I groaned, setting down the rather large wrench I had been using. We were both covered in grease and oil, though most of it had only made it to our coveralls rather than our school uniforms.

"We were, but the darned thing is busted. Right now it's more useful as a paperweight than an engine."

"Wow. Four hours of work, and all for nothing. Is changing it out at least easy?"

"Somewhat. We'll need to remove the whole engine deck, unhook the engine from everything else, which we've already done at this point, remove everything above the engine, and then lift the whole thing out with the repair crane. Then we use the crane to put the replacement in, put everything else back in, and put the engine deck back on." Lina explained.

I just leaned back against the M4's turret and sighed heavily. This sort of work was exhausting when you weren't used to it in the slightest. Even more so when the three people who broke the freaking engine refused to help, and had disappeared well over an hour ago.

Of course, Lina just handed me a wrench and told me to start on unbolting the engine deck while she went to grab the Chief.

"You girls 'bout done?" A male voice called from somewhere off to the left. "I'm hitting the lights soon."

"Sorry Chief!" Lina replied to him. Apparently he was gonna come to us. "This tank ain't got no engine!"

"Well, that's unfortunate!" The Chief called back, walking over to where Lina and I had been working. He was tall. Like, very tall. The only reason I wasn't craning my neck to look up at his face was that I was sitting atop a rather tall tank. His silvery hair was well concealed under a black cavalry hat.

I am absolutely not ashamed to admit that I recognized The Chieftain almost immediately. It was probably only my general level of exhaustion that stopped me from squealing like a schoolgirl and fangirling over him. Rach would have done it in a heartbeat, even as exhausted as I currently was.

"Hiya, Chieftain!" I called, waving with the wrench in my hand.

"Hello, miss Evans. What's this about your tank not having an engine?"

"Tank broke down before class started." Lina reported. "Tally and I have been working on it since, and at this point we just need to replace the engine and call it good."

"Well, it's a tad late for that now. If you girls have time before class tomorrow, do you mind coming in and finishing the job?" The Chieftain suggested. Both Lina and I nodded. "Alrighty then. Make sure all your tools are packed away, and that you don't lose anything before you head out. Have a good night and stay safe, both of you."

"Yes sir!" Lina and I somehow managed to say perfectly in sync, and we got to work cleaning up our work area. The Chieftain nodded, and headed over to where the light switches were located. As soon as Lina and I had left the garage, The Chieftain hit the lights.

Note to self: Make the Three Bandits suffer for whatever they did to that poor tank. Not even the M4 deserves such horrors inflicted upon it. Maybe one of those small turret T-34s, but not the M4. I don't hate it _that_ much.


	13. Chapter 13

**Hell On Tracks  
****Part 13**

I wasn't exactly looking forward to changing out the engine on the M4 when I arrived at the Tankery garage the next day, but as it turned out, it wasn't all that difficult a task. Sure, it was exhausting work to actually _do,_ but that comes more from the fact that everything involved with changing out the engine was heavy. The large wrench for the bolts on the engine deck wasn't all that heavy until halfway down the deck when it started weighing a whole lot more. The engine deck itself was made of steel and Lina and I needed The Chieftain's help with the repair crane to lift it off the tank. Broken engine came out, brand spanking new one went in, Lina and I went up to our shoulders in grease and oil to make sure everything was properly connected, engine deck went back on, and then it was just a matter of putting all of the bolts back in place.

Conveniently, that was when the Three Bandits showed up for class. Lina yelled at them for a bit about their shoddy maintenance work and how in the Virgin Mary's name did they manage to break it while traversing the mostly empty parking lot, and that sort of thing. I let her rant at them for a couple minutes while I let my arms rest, and then I took a turn at the yelling because their rank incompetence at actually maintaining the vehicle had not only cost me a day of valuable practicing time, but also the fact that I had been working my butt off for four hours while they relaxed in a corner and were messing about.

I thought they looked properly chastised, but apparently that wasn't enough ranting at the Three Bandits, because Kay came over with Naomi and Arisa, and she gave them a dressing down as well. Which was weird, because she was yelling at them in this very perky and upbeat sort of way, forcefully encouraging them to participate in class activities, and she would know if they didn't. The intense glaring from Arisa, and slightly less intense frowning from Naomi certainly didn't help my cognitive dissonance at the whole thing. Lina was having the time of her life watching it, though.

That was enough to finally grab my crew's attention, and as soon as Kay turned to leave with a cheerful "You got that?", the Three Bandits hastily crawled up on the Sherman and began listening to Lina's orders on what to do and where to put things. Lina offered to let me take a break, but I shook her off and did my fair share of the work (if mostly just applying oil where it was needed. I am not a wrench wench and my arms were kinda sore at this point).

* * *

Actually working with the Three Bandits made things go so much faster, and our tank was properly maintenanced before class officially started and Kay gave her opening announcements. I sat on top of the M4 and let my arms finally rest as Kay spoke. No special announcements today, the order of the day was drills. Drills which I would actually be able to participate in for once! Haha, tanking!

Since our tank was already serviced and ready to go for the drills, the Three Bandits led me off to a more secluded corner of the garage with a couple of tables, and taught me how to play Texas Hold'em poker. And by taught, I mean gave me really bad instructions, gave me a few pennies which they expected to win back immediately, and then cheated against me and still lost horribly. Thank you monthly poker games with dad and his friends!

I'll have to write dad a letter or something and let him know that I put my poker skills to good use.

San'nin no Tōzoku were good enough losers that they didn't freak out over my rinsing them of their pennies. They were rather astonished, but quite happy to have someone who could keep up with them in poker. The pennies were all part of a communal pool, so I didn't actually get to keep any of the money I won, but as a prize, Tuco showed me a little secret they had hidden in their tank.

"This here's our 'Lost and Found' bin." Tuco said, gesturing to her side. She was in the bow gunner's position, while I was sitting in the driver's seat. The bin she was gesturing to was where the .30 cal ammunition would normally go, but since all of the bow guns were kinda sorta useless in Sensha-do, the space was empty. "We put snacks and other assorted goods that we find laying about into it. Any member of the tank is free to take stuff out of it, but don't let anyone else know about this. It's our tank secret."

"Riiiiiiight." I drew out the word, unamused. Of course they would have a snack bin in their tank. Of freaking course.

Tuco just smiled, and opened up the bin to give me a better view. It was mostly potato chip bags, though there were a few assorted pens and pencils. And other small nicknacks, but nothing I could really categorize as any one grouping. I must have been frowning as I thought, because Tuco gave me a big toothy smile and passed me a bag of chips.

I beat a hasty retreat from the driver's position to the TC's hatch, where I cracked open the bag and sampled one. They were alright chips, but I've never been a huge fan of potato chips. Tortilla chips were much better, especially when you had salsa to dip them in. Mmmmm, good stuff.

My food induced distraction was quickly pushed aside when the various vehicles in the garage (all of them M4s or variants, of course…) began starting their engines and trundling out to the practice ranges. Blondie was quick to get us moving as well, and we joined the column of tanks. The Combat Company tanks went one way, Practice went another, and our tank joined Training Company in a third open field dedicated to Sensha-do practice.

The order of the day was fire and maneuver drills. Drive to a certain spot, stop the tank, fire at the target, and get moving again. Accuracy and speed were nice, but less important than just getting the reps in and helping make the muscle memory and/or getting to better know your vehicles and crew.

The Three Bandits were the best tankers in the group by far, and even then, I could tell they were taking things easy. Probably to humor me, since I'm a newbie and all. There were four different rows, each with ten targets to shoot at, and sixteen tanks split between the rows. While some of the tanks were having trouble stopping cleanly, getting on target, or shooting with any deal of accuracy, the Bandits didn't have any trouble whatsoever, hitting the target every time, and with only a minimal pause between stopping the tank and firing the gun.

I'm not quite sure it's fair to some of the other teams as a comparison, but our tank made it through the entire course in the time it took at least one other tank to move from the starting point to their first target and fire a shell at it. And we were both using the exact same tank.

I guess that's why this is the Training Company. Most of the people here need to train up their skills and learn what they're doing. Or are the Bandits and are awful at cooperating with other tanks.


	14. Chapter 14

**Hell On Tracks  
****Part 14**

I settled into a comfortable schedule for classes over the course of the next week. In the mornings, I was up early, cleaned myself up, and prepared coffee for Arisa and a few other Sensha-do teammates who lived in the same dorm as me. Either they never suspected my drinking of tea, or they just didn't care. Either way, I managed to enjoy morning caffeine with a few teammates, and got to better know Arisa. She preferred cream and three sugar cubes in her coffee, and I have no idea if that's a good way to take your coffee or a heretical one.

Morning classes were morning classes, and were overall pretty easy. I had one set on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and another set on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Nothing overly special, except for the fact that despite being the only native English speaker in my English class, I wasn't even close to the best speaker in that class.

After getting lunch somewhere that wasn't unhealthy fast food or bad cafeteria food, I had another class before Sensha-do. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Kay would give me a ride to Sensha-do, and we'd chat about all sorts of things. It actually wasn't all tanks all the time, and we talked everything from food establishments to video games to makeup that you could wear in a tank without it going bad, and even more diverse subjects. We did talk a lot of tanks, but that's because we had met through tanks, and were going to tanks practice. Haha, tanks!

Sensha-do itself was actually pretty fun now that I had a tank and a crew. Even if they were still lazy bums, the Three Bandits did actually help with tank maintenance, much to my and Lina's relief. We even actually got promoted to Practice Company fairly quickly, now that the tank had a commander who could coordinate half-decently. Drills in the Practice Company were more involved than they had been in Training Company, adding things such as formation driving and indirect fire drills to the repertoire. And platoon tactics. Those were very important.

After Sensha-do, I would stay late with Lina and make sure that my tank wasn't broken, or anything like that. I made friends with a few of the other auto club mechanics who were on loan to Tankery, and pitched in to some of the ongoing major repair projects. They had a Pershing hidden in the hangar down below the main garage, which was used as a repair bay for the really damaged tanks, and boy did the Pershing deserve to be down there.

As Saunders' sole good heavy tank (the M6 may be a heavy, but by no means is it 'good'), it had been dedicated to acting as a blocking force against Kuromorimine's much heavier tanks. Long story short, Pershing met Jagdtiger and friends, and lost horribly. Spare parts were trickling in, but university level teams were prone to snatch up any on the market before Saunders had a chance to buy them. Also in the repair bay was the Sherman Jumbo that had taken a 152mm HE shell to the rear, a number of plain old M4s, and the Chaffee's removed turret in the corner with a sign that said "How not to repair a tank" hanging over it.

* * *

Aroundabout a week and a half after leaving the American coast, the Saunders schoolship pulled into port at Nagasaki. I was excited to explore the city, but with classes going until the weekend, and Sensha-do taking up most of my evenings, that would have to wait.

I arrived early at Sensha-do the day after we pulled into port, eager for my first skirmish match. It was gonna be a 6v8 flag match with one-hit knockouts between the Practice and Training teams, and I don't think I could actually be more excited for it than I was. I'd wanted to show up early and make sure that everything was right in my tank before the match, and before the regular maintenance period.

What I was not expecting was for the forty-odd active tanks in the Tankery team to all be lined up in the parking lot, with auto club crews looking over them intensely. Kay was standing atop Arisa's M4A1, and shouting orders through a loudspeaker. The whole scene was so unexpected that I stumbled and nearly fell before someone caught my arm.

"Konnichiwa, Tally-san." Naomi said, pulling away once I had steadied myself.

"Hello, Naomi." I responded. "Thanks for the catch."

"No problem." The Firefly's commander said with a thumbs up.

"So, what's with the tanks?" I asked, gesturing to the line of armor.

"Tankery practice is going to be on land today. We have a few practice fields twenty kilometers north of here."

"Ooh. That sounds fun!" I cheered. Naomi smirked a little bit, which was practically a full on grin from her, and gestured for me to follow her over to where things were being prepared. Bag dinners were being prepared for everyone on the team, plus extras for all of the support crews. Curiously, the bag labeled 'Kay' wasn't your usual brown paper sack, but a large paper grocery bag that Arisa was piling sandwiches into.

I wasn't sure whether to laugh at that, or be very concerned about the team captain's appetite.

Regardless, Naomi and Arisa roped me into helping out with the preparing of food and other snacks. Chatting with Arisa was pretty fun, and she was quite the gossip. Some guy named Takashi was at the center of a lot of the gossip she was spreading, and usually took a positive role in her stories. She may have had a crush on the guy.

Packing food took most of the hour until class officially started. People had started trickling in and gathering around their tanks as the mechanics declared them ready for the day. It was rather surprising just how many bags of food we had prepared, but it really shouldn't have been. Over forty M4s were in Saunders' current active arsenal, each with a crew of either four or five, plus the various support crews and mechanics who had volunteered to run the recovery vehicles. Add in Kay's absolutely massive bag of sandwiches, and we had probably packed enough food to feed at least 200 people.

Once the food had all been packed away into the back of a Deuce and a Half, along with some other supplies, Arisa gave the food crew volunteers permission to wash up and mount up on their tanks. It took me a moment to find my tank, but I spotted Tuco and Blondie sitting atop the M4's hull in the traditional wide brimmed riding hats.

"Howdy, Tally." Blondie said with a tip of her hat as I climbed up next to her.

"Hello to you too. Ready to kick some butt in the skirmish?" I asked.

"You know it. Heck, Tuco here is so excited about the match that she just will not shut up about it." Blondie grumbled, gesturing with her thumb over at the excitable loader. Tuco pouted, and then pulled me into a sidehug before I could react or shy away from her.

I pushed away from Tuco's hug, and gave Blondie a pat on the shoulder before I moved around them and slotted myself into the TC's hatch. It was going to be a long drive up to the training grounds, but I happened to have a movie saved to my phone that I could watch at least part of while we drove. My phone came out of my uniform's pocket pretty easily, but my earbuds were conspicuously absent. Weird, because I know I packed them this morning when I left for classes.

"Hey, has anyone seen my earbuds?" I asked.

"Nope." "Nein." "No." My crew answered.

"There might be some in the Lost and Found bin." Tuco suggested. I grumbled something impolite under my breath and worked my way around the gun breech and down into the M4's hull to dig through the box for some headphones. There was a single pair of bright pink earbuds wrapped in a neat coil hidden pretty far back, and I gave them a quick lookover. They seemed to be intact enough, which would be good enough for an hour there and an hour back watching an old movie that didn't have great audio quality anyways.


	15. Chapter 15

**Hell On Tracks  
****Part 15**

I made it about halfway through _Kelly's Heroes_ before we finally arrived at the training grounds. My first impression of the place was that it was warm, humid, and generally pretty muggy. Trees surrounded the whole camp area, except for the smallish stream that was bubbling along happily. There was a wide open area to park the tanks and support vehicles, a pavilion with picnic tables, and a couple of trails wide enough for most tanks leading further into the forest. If it wasn't for the humidity, the place might have felt a little bit like home.

The tanks all filed into the open space in somewhat neat rows, and everyone dismounted when Kay called a general assembly at the pavilion. My Tankery uniform boots squelched in the newly created mud as I walked over, and while it didn't bother me very much, some of the others either got themselves stuck in the mud, or were very timid about walking through it.

"Okay everyone!" Kay called out in English when the team had finally gathered in the pavilion. Curiously, that was exactly how Mom called everyone together at home when my sisters and I needed to all be in the same place. The team captain switched back to Japanese to give her actual announcements. "Welcome to Camp Intrepid! For those of you who are new to the Tankery team, this is where we will have our on-land training sessions! Today, we will be having two skirmish matches. One, between the Practice Company and Training Company, will be a six versus eight Flag Tank battle, taking place on practice field number one! The second will be between the Combat Company and the remaining sixteen members of Practice and Training Companies, and will be a semi-elimination match. Combat Company will need to defeat every member of the combined Practice and Training Companies, while the combined team only needs to eliminate Combat's flag tank. Both skirmishes will be one hit knockout."

That was an interesting concept, and I was almost disappointed that I was taking part in the first match rather than the second. Almost. I was still a newbie commander who has yet to actually participate in a proper match or skirmish, so throwing me against the Training Company was going to be a better introduction. At least my first match didn't have any stakes on it at all.

Could you imagine that? Picking up Sensha-do, only for your first match to have some heavy weight upon it, where success may or may not rest entirely upon your shoulders at one point? No thank you.

Announcements went on a little longer, with Kay giving a general outline of how the day was going to go. There would be a short warmup period before the first skirmish began, and another one before the second skirmish. After the skirmishes were done, bag dinners would be passed out, and then we would all mount up and go home. Anyone whose tank was really disabled would get to take the ride of shame in one of the trucks or in their tank on the flatbeds.

And yes, she actually called it a ride of shame. I'm honestly not sure if the shame bit was aimed at the crew who got their tank damaged enough that they needed to take it, or for the crew who damaged them enough that it was necessary. Either way, pretty shameful.

* * *

After announcements wrapped up, the team split up into the four different teams that would be in the individual matches, and set off to the training fields for warmups. Most of it was just shooting practice, but there were some fire and maneuver drills as well, just to make sure everyone was up to snuff. Nothing really exciting happened beyond Blondie "accidentally" ramming our tank into another one after they cut us off.

"Alright Practice Team, listen up!" The Practice Company's vice-commander finally began over the radios. "For the skirmish, we will be splitting up into two platoons. Union Platoon will be taking the northern route into the hills, and will consist of my tank, with tanks two and three. Confederate Platoon will take the southern route, and will be tanks four, five, and six, led by Haru-chan."

The aforementioned tank commander complained about the nickname, but also acknowledged her command.

"Union Platoon's objective will be to push through the northern hills and engage what forces remain at Training's starting zone. Confederate Platoon will be waiting in the southern hills to catch any who flee from the engagement at Training's starting zone." The vice-commander continued. She numbered off the tanks by TC (I was the Five Tank. Talk about a coincidence), declared Haruna in the Four Tank to be the flag, and then asked if there were any questions.

A few of the others asked questions about general ideas for engagement, what we should do in a few specific situations, that sort of thing. The only thing that really stood out to me in the whole questioning bit was that a tank from Confederate Platoon was supposed to keep an eye on the stream below us, in the off-chance that someone decided to try and get a flank that way.

With all of the questions answered, the commander, whose name I wasn't bothering to remember, left her tank to meet up with Training's commander at the middle of the map. The rest of us rumbled off towards our start point to await the beginning of the skirmish.

* * *

My first actual tank versus tank battle started off pretty slowly. As part of the anvil to the classic hammer and anvil, my job was pretty much to wait in ambush. The Six Tank was across the way from us and slightly forward, while the Four Tank was further back and overlooking the stream. Right now, we were just waiting to either hear from the commander to maneuver, or to hear tank engines coming down the road we were camouflaged by.

To pass the time, I had a waterproof map laid out on top of the Sherman's turret and weighted down by a couple boxes of .30 cal ammo, and was just trying to figure out how I would run things. This arena definitely wasn't the easiest battlefield to try and control the battle though all of the different routes. From what I could tell, there were four different paths that had been worn out through years of use, two through the northern hills, the streambed, and the southern hills where Confederate Platoon was located. Six tanks was just not enough to cover every route and have enough local firepower to deal with whatever came through.

Three platoons of two might have worked, but that also had the issue of local firepower being spread thin. Sentries or rearguards might be another good choice, like what the Four Tank was doing to watch the stream, but that also had the issue of lacking firepower at the front if that was where it was needed. Maybe concentrating all of my forces into one group and pushing through the most commanding part of the map would work, getting local firepower superiority wherever we went, and breaking whatever we ran into through sheer force of will and guns.

"This is Two, engaging enemy forces!" Came over the radio, drawing me away from my fantasies of combat.

"Roger, Two. Pull back and draw them towards One and Three." The commander responded, and I could faintly hear the thunder of angry 75mm cannons through the radios. Guns echoed through the trees and hills, and after a long moment they stopped.

"Two M4s from Training team, disabled! One M4 from Practice team, disabled!" Arisa called through general comms from her referee's watch tower. It was now five to six, which made the match a lot more even than it had been minutes ago.

"This is Four, engaging two M4s moving through the streambed."

"Do you want help, Four?" I asked over comms.

"No, keep your cover. They haven't seen me yet."

"Got it. Aim true."

A moment passed, then two shots rang out in rapid succession, maybe three or four seconds apart.

"Two M4s from Training Team, disabled!" Arisa called out again.

"Good work, Four." The commander called. "Three, we're advancing on their starting zone."

"Copy that, boss!"

I drummed my fingers against the roof of the turret for a moment before I folded the map back up and put the ammo boxes back where they were supposed to go. Any fantasies about how I would run the op were a moot point now, since the battle was in full swing elsewhere.

"Two M4s from Practice Team, disabled! One M4 from Training Team, disabled!" Arisa called once more.

Aaaaand just like that, whatever numbers advantage we might have had disappeared. I could almost hear people freaking out over the radios, but things were silent for the moment.


	16. Chapter 16

**Hell On Tracks  
****Part 16**

A long moment passed as Arisa's announcement really settled in. What had been a five vs four battle was now a three vs three. Our flag tank was safe for the moment, but we had zero intel on the enemy's forces. We were dug in and in an ambush position.

"Those dirty rotten little-!" Blondie growled from the driver's seat. "Who do they think they are, anyways?"

"Our opponents. But also our teammates." Tuco answered. I could almost hear the cheeky grin on her face.

I ignored their continuing banter, and instead picked up my mic. "Four, this is Five. What's the plan?"

"I, uh… I don't have a plan." Haruna answered. "It's all going to be okay, but I'm not very good at strategic planning and coming up with the overall plan. I was hoping that you could help me with that."

"Oh…" Was all I could respond with. My microphone slipped from my hand. Slowly, I sagged down and nearly collapsed into my seat.

This was bad. This was very bad. I couldn't do this. Not when the team was relying on me. I was an armchair commander, not an actual one! They should all have more experience than me in this sort of situation! I couldn't do this. I can't.

"Tally?" Someone asked. I couldn't tell who, and my body refused to look, instead curling in on itself.

This was all wrong. I shouldn't be here. Not in Japan, not attending Saunders, and most certainly not in a tank on the battlefield! I can't do this. I can't! Not like this! I can't think straight! I can't breathe! Why can't I breathe?!

I lost all sense of time as I curled further in on myself, retreating mentally from that massive responsibility. I didn't think I could take it, so I couldn't.

* * *

"-ally!" A hard impact to my side drew me back to reality. "C'mon Tally, focus!"

That was Tuco, shaking my arm and shouting at me. I shied away from her, ashamed of my panic attack. They couldn't rely on me.

"Are you okay, Tally?" Tuco asked, pulling back. I didn't respond until she shoved a water bottle into my face.

"No." How could I possibly be okay when I just had a panic attack?

"Take as long as you need. Now drink." Tuco said, again shoving the water bottle into my face. I didn't take it from her hand, and she dropped it into my lap, where I left it. "Four, this is Five's loader. We're combat effective, but our TC needs a minute."

"Roger that, Five."

I stared despondently into the side of the turret, not looking at anything in particular. How could I look at anything when it all reminded me of the massive failure that I was? I'd dropped all of my responsibility as a TC, hiding away inside myself at the first sign of things going south.

Slowly, I reached down to my lap and picked up the water bottle. It wasn't one of those plastic disposable ones, but a really nice insulated one. It was a dull sort of brown, with a couple stickers pasted to the side. Most prominently was a cowboy hat with revolvers crossed underneath it, and the label San'nin no Tōzoku. I wasn't 100% sure, but I think those were all props from _The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly._ The hat certainly looked right, though I wasn't completely sure about the revolvers.

I unscrewed the cap on the water bottle and took a nice long swig. The cold water was jarring against my mouth, but also incredibly refreshing. I started feeling better almost instantly. Having drank my fill, I replaced the cap and passed the water bottle back to Tuco.

"Thank you, Tuco. Any orders come in while I was…" I trailed off, not wanting to confront my recent screwup.

"We're to hold our position and wait in ambush." Tuco replied, stowing the water bottle.

I nodded, and took stock of what was going on in the tank. Angel's eyes were practically glued to her periscope, while Blondie was fuming quietly down in the driver's seat. Tuco had a 75mm shell in her lap, but was more focused on me than the gun right now.

After taking a moment to calm my nerves, I stuck my head back out of the TC's hatch. The humid air hit my face like a truck, in sharp contrast to the water I'd just drank. Still, getting fresh air into my system helped almost immediately, and my rapidly tapping leg slowed and stopped.

For the moment, all was quiet on the front. My tank was situated just off the main road running through this part of the hills, and decently well camouflaged under a net and local brush. Making matters even better was our hull down state, leaving only the turret and myself visible from the road. Further ahead was the Six Tank, in much the same state.

"Five, Six, this is Four. I have eyes on a blue flag climbing the slopes and approaching your position. No eyes on the tank, just the flag."

"Roger that, Four!" Six's TC responded over comms.

I waited a moment, fiddling with my mic before speaking into it. "Copy that, Four."

"Good to hear from you, Five. You feeling better?" Haruna asked.

I nodded, before realizing that she couldn't see me. "Yeah, feeling better. Sorry about that."

"It's fine, happens to everyone. You may have ditched your tank, but you got it out of the rut just fine."

That got a smile out of me, and I chuckled a little bit before pulling a straight face back on. "So, what's the plan, Four?"

"I was really hoping you could help me with that. I'm pretty bad at commanding anything more than platoon level." Haru admitted.

"All we have left is a platoon." I grumbled, suppressing the panic the rose in my throat at the concept of helping plan this. Ignoring it was hard, but I dutifully pulled my map back out and spread it out over the turret's roof. "Okay, so Five and Six are dug in here, at map grid H5. Four is on an overlook at G5, right?"

"That's correct."

"Where would you say you saw the flag tank?"

"Hrm. J6? Or thereabouts."

"Okay, give me one minute, please." I said, before ducking down into the M4. "Hey Blondie, how long would you say it takes for a Sherman to get up the hill and to our position following the road, starting from Training's spawn point?"

The driver turned in her seat and looked at me. "I dunno, about ten, fifteen minutes? Less if they were pushing their tanks hard. Terrain's pretty rough here, even on the road."

"Right, so let's call that five minutes. Thanks!" I said, before going back to my map. "Okay Four, here's my plan. We have roughly five to ten minutes before Training's flag rolls right into our ambush. So what we are going to do is follow our original plan, stay right where we are, hold the ambush, and let them come. If they avoid us or go around, we react as appropriately. The area is heavily biased towards the defenders, so if we can stay put and let them come to us, we'll be better off."

"Thank you, Five!" Haruna replied, before comms went quiet once more.

* * *

I had no idea if that was a good plan or not. My confidence was shaken by my panic attack, and my mind just kept rolling to flaws in my basically nonexistent plan. Hold tight and wait for them to roll right into our ambush. What was I thinking? They had to know that this area was great for the defenders. How else could they have taken the two tanks of Union Platoon so quickly that there wasn't a call over radio?

"Stop that." Angel Eyes said firmly, not bothering to look away from her periscope. I looked at her back for a moment, confused, before I realized what she had meant and rested my hand on my tapping leg.

"Sorry." I responded. Great, now my nerves were getting to me in more ways than just a rapidly spinning mind.

"Four, Five? This is Six. I'm seeing two contacts coming down the road. Want me to open fire?"

"Hold on, Six. Let them come more into range. We'll take the one on the right, you get the one on the left." I replied. "You hear that, Angel? Tank on the right is our target."

The gunner nodded, not saying anything.

"Roger that, Five. We'll wait on your word." Six said, and then the radio went quiet once more.

It was a waiting game, now. Would the Training teams spot us as they advanced, or were our tanks well enough concealed that we could get the drop on them?

* * *

As it turned out, we were well enough hidden. Two M4s came up the road into view, and didn't spot us. Neither one was the flag tank, but that didn't matter right now. A three on one was much better odds than a three on three, and we were about to make it those odds.

"Ready?" I asked my crew. The Training tanks were almost in the perfect spot to shoot. Angel nodded, while Blondie gave an affirmative. Tuco gave a big grin and a thumbs up, patting the shell in her lap. "Six, on three."

"Roger."

I took a deep breath, steadying myself. "One, two, three."

The 75mm guns roared. The lead tank stopped dead in its tracks, and the little white flag popped out with an audible 'thwip.' The trailing tank, however, didn't stop. Tuco slammed her shell into the breech of the gun, Angel shifted the turret, and fired again. No flag on the second tank. And now its turret was tracking towards us.

Well, that wasn't good.

"Blondie, get us moving!" I definitely didn't shout into the tank's intercom. Our tank lurched forward and onto the road, barely dodging the shell that was coming our way. "Six, you still up?"

Nothing.

"Four, this is Five. We've been engaged. Six is disabled, and we've only taken out one!" I managed to blurt out into my radio before Angel fired again. We were moving fast, the Sherman's radial engine roaring as Blondie put all of the power she could into getting us around that M4 and giving Angel a clear shot.

I stuck my head out the hatch just after a 75mm shell soared over it, and took stock of the situation. The road here was barely wide enough to drive side by side, which naturally meant that the two tanks scraped each other as Blondie took us past the spinning opponent M4. I rocked back and forth from the impact, but the crazy woman had managed to get us behind our opponent.

A quick maneuver stopped our tank in its tracks, shifted it, and Angellet loose with the 75. At this range, it would be very hard for her to miss.

The Training tank's white flag popped up with a 'thwip.'

"Training tanks have been dealt with. They weren't the flag." I reported over comms.

"Roger that, Five. Pull back to my location." Haruna responded.

"Got it. We're on our way." That was exciting! I'd always loved watching tanks shoot at each other, but actually taking part in it was something else entirely! The roar of the engines, the thunder of guns, and the sound of shells whizzing overhead. It was awesome! Not to mention the wonderful little thwip of the white flag. I couldn't think of a more satisfying sound than an opponent's tank being disabled and popping the white flag.

The shame of my panic attack had been washed away by adrenaline, and I'm pretty sure I was grinning like an idiot.


	17. Chapter 17

**Hell On Tracks  
****Part 17**

I waved to the crews of the two disabled tanks as they clambered out. They seemed generally pretty cheerful, and I got some waves and wishes of good luck as Blondie maneuvered us around the disabled vehicles. Curiously, Six's crew was not so cheerful as they made their way out of the brush and onto the main road. They were rather irate, and their commander made a rude gesture as we pulled away.

I shrugged it off, leaving that particular issue to future me.

* * *

"There you are!" Haruna called, sitting atop her M4's turret. Her tank was nestled up into a small alcove between a hill and a rock, and was pretty well hidden with the camouflage net draped over it. I wanted to hop out and run over to her to chat planning in person, but the middle of Sensha-do was not the time nor the place to do so.

"Sorry it took us so long. We nearly got ourselves stuck getting around the disabled tanks in the road." I apologized. "Do we have a plan, or are we waiting and letting Training make the first move?"

Blondie made a noise at that comment, but Tuco shushed her. Angel, being Angel, kept quiet about the whole subject.

"Don't have much of a plan, unfortunately." Haru replied. "We know that they're somewhere on the road between here and Training's starting zone, but other than that, nothing."

"So, do you wanna rush 'em?" I asked. "I don't see a way to get behind them, so that's our only real choice for taking them out. Either that or we wait."

"Comandante?" Tuco asked, poking my leg.

"One sec, Haru." I said, holding up a finger before dropping back into the turret. "What's up, Tuco?"

"I may have an idea for how to get around the enemy flag tank without taking too long." My loader said, her eyes refusing to meet mine.

"Oh, and what would that be?"

"It's not the safest route, but it could be quick. If there is a shallow enough slope down between here and the streambed, we might be able to traverse the slope and get down that way."

"You're crazy. We're too high up, and the slope is too steep for an M4. Almost any tank, really." I said, shaking my head.

"I could do it." Blondie piped up.

"Without getting us stuck or rolled? Because I've rolled a Sherman before, and it is not a fun experience."

"I can do it."

"Alright. Tuco, you check the map to see if there's somewhere that we can get down _safely._ No need to make it dangerous on ourselves, even if Blondie thinks she can do it."

"Ain't no thinkin' 'bout it, ma'am. I can do it." Blondie objected. Tuco just nodded, and pulled the map out of its case.

I stuck my head back out the hatch and faced Haruna once more. "Well, my driver's crazy enough to think that she can get me down into the streambed from up here without rolling us or otherwise getting us stuck. We're looking for a spot right now."

"That's good. Very good!" Haru cheered. "So you'll flank around through the river while I advance on their front?"

"Unless you want to swap tanks entirely and have the flag do the flanking, yeah."

"As appealing as that sounds, no thank you, Tally. Be quick on your flanking, though. We don't know where they are for certain."

"Right!" I said, giving Haru a quick salute before dropping into the tank and starting giving orders.

* * *

Tuco had managed to find a slope that wasn't too steep, and it wasn't all that far from our current position. How she'd found this with just a map, I wasn't quite sure, but it was a plan, and we could always regroup with Haru if it didn't work out. The drive over was quick, and we all hopped out of our tank to observe the slope.

"That still looks rather steep." I commented, staring down at the slope. If we went down it, we certainly weren't getting back up it. And I wasn't near as confident as Blondie in our ability to traverse it.

"It is." Blondie said. "We can make it, but you're all gonna want to strap in and brace yourselves."

I exchanged looks with the others, and they all seemed… I'm not sure if confident is the right word, but they had faith in Blondie's abilities.

"If I end up with a concussion or something like that, I'm blaming Tuco." I joked. Blondie let out a sharp laugh, but Angel and Tuco were less than amused.

With the observation out of the way, we all piled back into the tank. All of the seats had seatbelts added, but most people didn't use them during Sensha-do. The ability to move around in the tank was an important one, and belting yourself down was counter-intuitive in that regard. For cases such as this, where you knew you were going to risk tipping or rolling your tank, I felt it was better safe than sorry. Tuco and Angel obviously thought the same.

The Sherman lurched forward as soon as everyone was strapped in. I braced myself against the turret walls, and just in time, as the tank very rapidly tipped forward at a dangerous angle. Angel barked out a short curse as her head slammed into her periscope.

"Nonononono..." I heard Tuco muttering under her breath as we slid down the slope. With how much we were sliding side to side as Blondie fought to keep us straight on, I couldn't help but agree with her sentiment.

We hit the ground with a heavy thud. For a long moment I thought we were stuck, as we were still sitting at that dangerous angle. Then, the engines roared once more, and the tank leveled out. Everyone in the turret breathed a sigh of relief.

"Driver! Take us further down the stream! We have a flag tank to surprise!" I ordered, removing my seatbelt and sticking my head out the hatch. Looking back at the slope we had come down, it was amazing that we hadn't tipped or rolled. Had we landed less than a hull width to either direction, we would have hit a large rock and either gotten stuck on the slope, or tipped and been eliminated.

* * *

The drive down the stream was surprisingly quick, given the ten to fifteen minute estimate for getting from Training's spawn point to the ambush point. I guess the terrain in the hills was a lot rougher, and pushing up a slope is a lot harder than following a shallow rocky streambed.

Tuco and I rode unbuttoned, keeping a lookout for the blue flag affixed to the last remaining Training tank. With all of the tanks being the exact same make and model, and with them having the same color scheme, the color of the flag would be the only way we could tell which tanks was Training's, and which one was Haruna's.

"Head's up, Five. I'm putting an HE shell into the hill across the stream." Haru reported over comms.

"Baiting them out?" I asked, curious at the tactic.

"Yeah. Keep an eye out for activity."

"Roger that, Four."

A few moments later, the blast against the hillside echoed through the hills and valleys of the field. I scanned the rough patches of trees and shrubbery, looking for anything that might give them away.

What was… There!

"Panzer halt." I called into the tank's intercom. "Angel, M4 at ten o'clock. Two hundred meters. It's well camouflaged and hidden by a low rise in the ground."

"Good spot, TC!" Tuco cheered, before dropping down into the turret to load the gun. Blondie brought the tank to a halt, and Angel slewed the gun on target.

"Four, this is Five. We have eyes on the target." I said, before giving our location. Y'know, in case that things went horribly wrong and we got taken out. Unlikely, but not impossible.

Haruna acknowledged. The gun was on target. We were ready to engage.

"Gunner, fire." I commanded.

There was no traditional shout of "on the way," or any acknowledgement beyond the 75mm gun roaring. I rocked back, bracing myself before I could slam into the hatch edges.

The puff of dirt maybe ten feet short of the M4 was all the indication I needed that Angel had missed. It was also all the warning the Training M4 needed to hit the gas and get moving. Tuco had a second shell in the breech quick, but not quick enough for Angel to hit the target before it was moving along swiftly through the trees.

"After them!" I commanded, point forward. "Angel, if you can't hit them while on the move, try and get them to head towards the Four Tank."

"Hai." My terse gunner responded, sending another shell downrange. This one went high and wide, and prompted a return shot from the Training tank. It flew close enough that buttoning up and commanding my tank that way would probably be safer.

"Four, target is still up and heading your way. We'll try to herd them, but we need you as the anvil to our hammer." I said into the radio.

"Got it, Five. Good luck!"

It was a tense five minutes of chasing. Even with the stabilizers in use, the 75s were not accurate while on the move. Neither team hit their target during the chase, though there were some shots that were darned close.

The shot that ended the match came from an unexpected angle. Not an unexpected source, but an unexpected angle. Haruna's tank was on a very clear mini-hill within the hills of the field. It had good sightlines to the various paths in the southern part of the map, but it was completely exposed.

A very risky position unless you knew that your sole opponent would be focusing on something else entirely. However, since Haru _knew_ that my tank was engaged and chasing, she could use the position to her advantage. And from there, it was only a matter of edging the Sherman onto the downslope and putting a shot directly into the Training tank's engine deck at close ranges.

"Training team's flag tank is eliminated! Practice team wins!" Arisa called out over the broadcast radios.

Inside my tank, everyone was cheering. Tuco gave me a solid high five, and even Angel had a smile on her face. Relief coursed through my body, and I drooped in my seat a little bit. We'd done it. We'd won!

Now all that was left was to congratulate everyone who participated, get back to Camp Intrepid, and take a nice relaxing break while we watched Kay and the Combat Company absolutely stomp the combined Practice and Training teams.


	18. Chapter 18

**Hell On Tracks  
****Part 18**

A huge wave of applause greeted us as we rolled into the common area of Camp Intrepid. Haruna was at the front of the line of tanks, with my tank right behind hers. Following us was a mix of Practice and Training tanks which had gathered around us as they had reset their power and gotten moving again. The applause died down slightly as tanks started moving into the churned mud of the parking lot, but was replaced by cheers and words of encouragement as people started climbing out and slogging their way through the mud towards the crowds.

You wouldn't have guessed it, but most of the girls at Saunders absolutely hated the mud, even when it was relatively shallow like this. Their dislike was bad enough that a few girls had the genius idea of turning their tank's turrets 90 degrees and using the gun barrels as tightropes to stay above ground and jump from tank to tank. This worked for some people, but others fell and were now covered in mud instead of just having their shoes and boots get a little dirty.

I really wanted to laugh at their antics as I marched through the mud, absolutely unfazed by it. Bonuses for growing up in a consistently rainy area and being generally outdoorsy, I guess. The Three Bandits were right behind me, and while Angel Eyes looked disappointed to be slogging through it with the rest of us, they were more upbeat about the fact that we won.

"Good work, Tali!" Kay called as she came barreling towards me. It was barely enough warning for me to dodge away from her glomp. She instead impacted on Tuco, who rocked back, but quickly shoved the team captain off.

"Sorry Captain, but you aren't my type." Tuco said, shuffling away from Kay, who just looked disappointed.

It only took Kay a moment to reapply her energy, and she gave everyone in the group a big grin and a thumbs up. "You all did good jobs! Congratulations on your win!"

Once we were free of the mass of tanks and mud, Kay drew me away from the surprisingly cheerful Bandits. We were well away from most of the crowd, and after a moment of looking around, I realized that Naomi was sort of standing guard, keeping the crowds moving either to their tanks or the bleachers to get ready for the big match.

"You okay?" Kay asked, letting her concern reach her face.

"Yeah?" I said, uncertain. "What do you mean?"

"Haruna-chan let me know about your panic attack on the field. As head referee, it's my job to call for a halt to the match or for an evacuation if someone gets seriously hurt. Nobody wants a repeat of last year's Finals match." Kay explained.

"Ah. Well, I think I'm fine now. It was, well, hmm…" I trailed off, trying to find the words in Japanese to explain. When they didn't come, I switched to English. "I start to freak out when lots of people are needing me to do something. You ask me to come up with a hypothetical plan in a situation, I can do it. When you ask me for that exact same plan in a live exercise where the whole team is relying on me, I panic. I thought I was over it, but I guess not." I hung my head in shame as I finished up. Once more, I was just disappointed with myself, rather than anything else.

"I see." Kay said, before pulling me into a tight hug. "You did great out there. Do you know why a tank has tracks instead of wheels?"

The question caught me off guard, and I tried to struggle away from the hug to better look at Kay. Her grip was like iron, and didn't budge. "Ah, no? Something about trench crossing and tradition?"

"A tank has tracks because they are better at crossing rough terrain. You encountered a patch of rough terrain today, and you climbed over it. Next time, you'll be able to cross it that much easier. And the next time, and the next. Eventually, it won't be much of an obstacle, and you can cross it almost as if it were an open field."

Ooooh… It was an analogy. A tank analogy. Those are always fun.

After a moment of silence, Kay released the hug. I stepped back, but she reached forward and wiped a tear off my face. "Thanks, Kay. It means a lot. It really does."

Kay smiled. Not one of those enthusiastic grins that show just how awesome a time someone is having, but one of those soft, heartfelt smiles that really show how much they care, and just generally enjoy being around you. It was a beautiful smile.

"Good! Now, come on, I have great seats for the next match. And," Kay leaned in conspiratorially. "I had Naomi make some popcorn."

* * *

She was right. The seats Kay had reserved for herself were right in the middle of the covered area of the bleachers, with room for the large radio box. Also, conveniently there were a couple of massive buckets of popcorn. Like the large ones that you can get at a movie theater, except bigger, and even more filled with popcorn. The thought of eating all that popcorn on my own almost made me sick. Even sharing it with Kay left more than a bucket per person.

Naomi joined the two of us in the bleachers, and we spent most of the half-hour warmup period talking about anything other than tanks. I talked a little bit about home, and how different being on a Japanese school ship was compared to the hills and forests of southwestern Washington. Kay bragged that her hair was a completely natural blonde, as opposed to most of the other blondes at Saunders who dyed their hair to "look more American." That got a laugh out of everyone, and it neatly explained why there were so many more blondes here at Saunders than there were back home. On the subject of hair, Naomi explained why she kept hers so short. Apparently, she had been doing Tankery stuff the day before Prom at Saunders, and had singed the tips off, along with her eyebrows.

We all laughed at that one. Supposedly, Naomi was a bit of a flirt with other girls, and had at least one girl at each of the major schools, and a few of the smaller ones as well. Her date, a girl from Kuromorimine whom they refused to name, had been appalled about the missing hair, and worked a miracle of hairdressing and makeup to make Naomi look just as good as she had before the incident.

Eventually, Naomi had to get back to her camera drone's controls (she had a massive setup that looked more like a proper cockpit than a simple joystick/gamepad and camera screen). Kay offered her a bucket of popcorn, which she politely declined, and we waved her off.

"Hey, Tali?" Kay asked, breaking the silence that had momentarily fallen over us.

"It's Tally." I corrected automatically. "What's up?"

"After big outings like this, or big matches, of other fun events, I usually throw a party back at the Tankery Garage. They're pretty popular, and we get people from all over the ship to show up. I was wondering if you would like to join me there?"

I drummed my fingers against my leg as I considered the invitation. "That sounds like a lot of fun, but I don't do well with large crowds."

Kay looked a little disappointed at my response, but nodded. "Okay. If you ever want to come to one, just let me know!"

"Will do. Thank you for inviting me."

"No problem!" Kay said with that big grin and thumbs up that I'm starting to realize is 'her thing.'

Not very long after that, Arisa called in from the ref's watch tower, calling all tankers to their starting zones, and for captains to meet her in the middle of the field. It was time for the main event to get started.


	19. Chapter 19

**Hell On Tracks  
****Part 19**

The field that was being used for the Combat vs Amalgamated match was a fair bit larger than the one for the Practice vs Training match. It was also a lot more open and flat. Most of the available cover was from dips and rises in the ground than from large hills and trees. Which wasn't to say that those terrain features didn't exist, just in less concentrated amounts than the fairly tight corridors at field one.

In the southern part of the center of the field was a simulated village, to the north west was a commanding hill, and a sorta small river ran from east to west, having been fed from the same stream that was in practice field one. Small pockets of forestation completed the map, and were scattered about in what could be called a haphazard manner.

"We use this field for official matches against other schools when we're at home and not in tournaments." Kay explained, as the two team captains met with Arisa in the middle of the field, slightly north of the village. "Fighting Kuromorimine here is a big challenge, but we have managed to pull off a few wins against them."

"How do you manage that? That hill is a perfect place to drop a couple Tigers or Jagdpanzers and control the whole map." I asked.

"It is. The key is getting there first, and then hitting their snipers from an unexpected angle. You see that patch of trees just west of the hill?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"It has lots of bushes and low trees, so if you put a platoon of heavy tank killers in there, Naomi's Firefly, Easy Eights, the Pershing if we have it working and want to use it, you'll be undetected unless they drive into it. And if they drive their Tigers or Panthers into the forest, it's a close range brawl where whoever gets the first shot usually manages to take out their opponent."

"But if you drive right past it, you leave yourself vulnerable to the flank from tanks hidden there. Smart."

"Thank you, but it was actually Arisa's idea. She's very good at predicting where people will go, and how to affect the information that they get on you. If only she didn't try to stretch the rules, she would be a great leader."

"Stretch the rules? I feel like there's a story behind that."

"A few, actually. Arisa has incredible knowledge of the rules of Sensha-do. What is and isn't allowed, what will get you removed from a match or disqualified altogether, things like that. She's actually the one working out what exactly needs to be done to get our Hellcat modified to be Tankery legal. But the point is that she knows the rules well. Well enough that she tries to do things that are completely within the rules but give an unfair advantage."

"That's… I fail to see the problem there. If it's all perfectly Tankery legal, shouldn't it be fine?" I admitted.

"It's not fair. In the, "it's against the spirit of Sensha-do" kind of unfair, rather than the "no such thing as a fair fight" kind of unfair." Kay explained, with sufficient air quotes. "Oh, they're heading back to their tanks. It's gonna start soon."

"About darned time…" I muttered. "So you don't like what Arisa does because it's cheating without having the honor to cheat properly."

Kay gave me a funny look for that one. "You can cheat properly?"

"Sure! The Bandits do it all the time when they play penny poker in the back corner instead of doing maintenance."

"They do what now?"

"They're all a bunch of dirty rotten cheaters. Put a deck of cards in front of them, and half of the good cards will be up their sleeves before you know it."

"No, no, the other thing."

"Playing poker during maintenance period?"

"Yes, that. Tell me-" Kay was interrupted by Arisa coming on the radio, saying that everyone was ready. "We'll talk about this later."

I nodded, and Kay fiddled with her radio to hit the general broadcast of the whole Saunders team. "All teams, on your marks! Get set! Begin!"

* * *

As with all Tankery matches everywhere, the battle started out slowly. Though the slightly less than two kilometer span meant that if teams wanted to rush each other straight out the gate, they could, any sane team used the distance and the time that distance gave them to maneuver and jockey for advantageous positions. In this case, part of the Amalgamated team was rushing towards the cover of the town, while the rest just sort of went and did their own thing. Meanwhile, the Combat team was also moving towards the town with most of their forces, but one platoon was instead making for the hill, and another was following the riverbed to push forward with a bit of cover.

For all that it was a larger area than the previous match, and with more participants, this match went much faster than the one I had been in. Combat gained uncontested control over the hill, and used that position to pick off targets that were scattered around the map. The platoons going to the town met equal opposition in numbers, but their ability to stay in contact and maneuver was unequalled. When the platoon that had taken the riverbed through emerged on the town's flank, cutting off any retreat, it was all over for the Amalgamated team's town force.

Kay pointed out a few tanks on the Amalgamated team that had done well in their individual fights, and might be good additions to the general Combat Company for the upcoming tournament. I listened and nodded along, giving some insights where I had them.

"Were there any potential Combat Company additions from last match?" I asked during a lull. The remaining Amalgamated tanks were fleeing, taking potshots as they ran.

"A few. Training One, their flag, did really well. I'll have to talk to her and see who came up with the plan they executed, and see about moving them up to at least Practice. Practice Four and Five did really well too, though the Five Tank had a few issues that will need addressing." Kay answered.

"Like my panic attack?" I deadpanned.

"Not just that, but yes. You've got a sound mind, and if you can stay focused in matches, you'll do wonderfully. Ooh, look at that." Kay pointed to the screen, where a trio of Amalgamated tanks were setting up an ambush for the pursuers of the two fleeing tanks.

"Combat should already be able to see them, I think. They've got spotters on the hill, and tanks along the flanks."

"They can. But watch what happens."

It was a masterfully executed trap. Amalgamated was down to their last five tanks, all involved in that chase/ambush scenario. Combat had only lost a few tanks in the town fighting, and was engaged with almost all of their strength.

One of the runners took an unlucky hit during the chase, stopping them cold. The other one ducked into a low spot, with the three pursuers close behind them. As they followed the runner into the trap, the ambushing tanks popped out from the sides and blasted them. A good trap to whittle down the opposing team's numbers with minimal losses, but they had failed to remember that the rest of their team was also knocked out.

The flanking Combat Company tanks dove in like sharks to a slaughter, and tore the remaining Amalgamated tanks to pieces.

"And that's game." Kay said succinctly. She turned on her radio, and spoke into the receiver, this time speaking to everyone on the camp, not just the tank crews. "Good job, everybody! Reset your power, and return to Camp Intrepid parking. If you are stuck, call a recovery vehicle. Everyone else, gather at the pavilion. Once everyone has arrived, we will have closing announcements, and then dinner!"

That got a cheer from everyone, and people began shuffling off towards the pavilion at a rapid pace. I started to move with the crowd, but Kay grabbed my wrist, stopping me from leaving.

"You did great out there, Tali. Don't let one bad experience ruin the whole sport for you." Kay said, meeting my eyes. I'd never noticed how pretty her eyes were before just now.

"I won't." I nodded. "And thank you."


	20. Chapter 20

**Hell On Tracks  
****Part 20**

For me, the rest of the evening was a quiet affair. Kay gave the general announcements, said she would be contacting a few tank crews and adjusting which Company they were placed in, let everyone know about her party back at the ship, and that there were only a few more days until the matches with Maple. After that was dinner with the Bandits, general bragging and regaling the match, and then we went home.

I watched the rest of _Kelly's Heroes_ on the trip home, while Angel napped against her periscope, and Blondie and Tuco chatted about something that I didn't care to listen in on. Then, when we were finally back at the tankery garage, I grabbed my stuff and walked back to my dorm. As I was cleaning myself up for bed, I idly checked my email. Ooh, something from dad!

As much as I wanted to read the letter from my family now, bed was calling. Its sweet siren song was a much stronger lure than the desire to check in on my family. Besides, future me could have something nice for once and read it instead of present me.

Aren't I nice to future me?

* * *

The morning came rapidly, and after cleaning myself up and brewing a nice cup of tea to help wake me up, I settled down at my computer and opened up the email from dad.

_Dear Tally,_

_It was very nice to hear from you last week. I'm happy that you are putting your poker skills to good use, and I am certain that my friends will all be happy that you are no longer cleaning them out of their gambling money. Your mom and I would like to discourage any gambling you may be doing in class time, as there are usually more productive things to be doing in that period. _

_Your mom misses you, as do Marie and Sasha. Your sisters are both doing well in school, and Sasha is having a lot of fun at baseball. She's sad that her awesome big sister isn't there to help at practice, but that hasn't stopped her or any of her teammates from having a good time. Their first game is next week._

_A few days ago, your aunt Sophie stopped by and said she wanted to send you something in the care package we're preparing. After some discussion, she and your mom baked biscotti to send you. We'll be sending the care package this weekend, so if there is anything you would like us to send your way, please ask._

_Love,  
__Dad_

_P.S._

_Auntie Nat said she had a new recommendation for you, and that she would send it your way.  
__-Mom_

I smiled, and typed up a quick reply to dad, detailing last night's Sensha-do match, conveniently leaving out my panic attack. I also asked them to send me some more tea, new baseball team sunglasses, and a few other nicknacks that I couldn't get my hands on through the local requisitions.

That sent, I closed my laptop, sipped my tea, and headed out to hang out with Arisa and the other tankers in my dorm.

* * *

The common room was pretty light on people this morning. Arisa was sitting in one of the comfy armchairs, sipping at her coffee and otherwise being absolutely dead to the world. A few of the others were in similar states. So, as soon as I realized that most everyone in the room was from Sensha-do, I put on my brightest, fakest smile possible, threw my arms wide and declared a very enthusiastic "Good morning!~"

My morning enthusiasm got a number of grumbles and groans, which was the intended goal. It also managed to attract the direct ire of someone who looked very unhappy with me. As she stalked over, coffee mug in hand, I recognized who she was. Not her name, so much as her position in Tankery and which tank she was in. Loader of Tank Six, which was knocked out due to my mistake in the practice match.

"I've got a bone to pick with you." She growled in surprisingly good English, and I took a step back, raising my hands to try and calm her down.

"I'm sorry! I am so, so sorry! It was an honest mistake, a newbie's mistake! I screwed up and gave bad orders, and you got caught in the middle of that and I'm sorry!" I said, my words devolving into panicked mumblings. A few of the others in the room looked over at the commotion, but most of them were still dead to the world.

"You little- wait, what?" She said, looking very confused.

"I screwed up. I wasn't trying to be a glory hound or screw you over on purpose!" I said, taking another step back.

"Oh." And like that, all of the steam she had built up was gone. "Well, don't make that mistake again, and if you do, make sure you aren't doing so with us. I can't guarantee that the rest of my crew will be as forgiving."

With that, she went back to whomever she had been hanging out with and I let out a heavy sigh of relief. Not willing to deal with any more drama, I quickly found a seat near Arisa, and idly chatted with her loader as we waited for the intel officer to finally wake up.

When Arisa finally became cognizant, her loader gave a quick report about something (I wasn't quite sure what they were talking about, and they talked too fast and too quietly for me to properly listen in), and darted off to class. I spent the rest of the morning chatting with her, and grilling her for information on Maple's Tankery team composition.

For the most part, their team was about as uninspiring as Saunders' own. Ram IIs and Grizzlies, which were both very similar designs to the M4 Sherman. At least the Ram had an interesting design, if heavily inspired by American tank design of the 40's.

With such similar tanks and tank performance, the matches against Maple would be more decided by skill and ability of the crews, rather than by the power of the tanks. Unless Arisa or Naomi brought their heavier guns to the game, but I had doubts of that happening in whichever of the three matches I was going to be in.

Arisa also told me in close confidence that she had heard they had made a few new vehicle purchases, but that she didn't know what those purchases were yet. Probably just more Rams or Grizzlies, but you could never be certain.

I certainly hoped it was something new and interesting. American-designed or inspired tanks were very nice pieces of machinery, but they were all almost the same thing, with only slight differences between the designs. Just look at the dozens of different variants of the M4, and compare it to the number of British or German designs of the war.


	21. Chapter 21

**Hell On Tracks  
****Part 21**

Kay sent out a text to all of the Tankery team during classes, saying that first order of the day was cleaning the tanks, and to bring a change of clothes and/or something that you weren't afraid to get a little damp. It probably meant that there were going to be a number of girls running around the Tankery garage in swimsuits. I was suddenly somewhat glad that Tankery was a women-only sport over here in Japan, because guys leering at a bunch of girls doing manual labor in swimsuits or otherwise damp clothes did not sound very comfortable.

The delay that was involved in me having to stop back at my dorm and put on some less nice clothes meant that Kay was waiting for me at our usual spot. She was enjoying a bit of ice cream in her jeep, and waved as I walked over.

"Hey Tali!"

"Hiya, Kay! And for the millionth time, it's Tally. With two 'Ls' and a 'Y."

Kay laughed, and I climbed into the seat next to her, putting my bag with my Tankery uniform in the back. "How was your day, then?"

"It was pretty good. We're doing ballistics in my physics class right now."

"Oh, I remember that class! It's a fascinating subject. Things go up, things go down!" Kay said, laughing at her joke. I joined in the laughing.

"Yeah. We actually were calculating distance from launch to landing using the ballistics of a Sherman's 105 howitzer. No idea if the numbers were the real deal, but that was the example."

"Ooh, fun!" Kay said, before hitting the gas.

"It was, and I think the example of stuff blowing up helped get a number of people on track. It was pretty simple stuff, really. An M4 Sherman armed with a 105mm howitzer fires a shell at an upwards angle of 18 degrees. Assuming the muzzle velocity is X, and disregarding air resistance, how far away does the shell impact?"

"Very nice!" Kay gave a thumbs up before shifting and bringing us around a corner at high speed.

"What about you? How was your day?"

"It was good! I was given a writing assignment for my English class, and the Chief contacted me about progress on the Hellcat front."

"Oh?" I asked, excited. "What's the news?"

"We have the list of necessary modifications that we need to make for the Hellcat. The armor needs to be increased slightly to better support and protect the carbon protective layer, and we need to find a roof for the turret."

"Increase the armor? But that'll slow it down a lot. Hellcat's engine isn't the most powerful."

Kay nodded. "The Chief is looking for a workaround in his free time. He thinks we may be able to get an improved engine to keep the Hellcat within historical parameters despite the League mandated modifications."

"Hmm. Well, a cobbled together Hellcat is still a Hellcat. Any idea how long that'll take?"

"You would have to ask the Chief or one of the mechanics, but it won't be ready for use until around the final rounds in the tournament."

"Dibs."

"Huh?" Kay asked, giving me a confused look as she pulled up to a stop sign.

"Dibs. I am calling dibs on the M18 when we make it that far into the tournament."

"You can't just call dibs on a tank like that!"

"Sure I can. I just did. And besides, she's a tank destroyer."

"Tali, no. Just, no." Kay shook her head. I pouted, and gave my best puppy eyes when she looked over at me. "Fine. If you do well, and make the tournament combat team, and we make it that far, I will see what I can do about getting you into the Hellcat."

"Haha, tank destroyers! I have _dibs!"_ I cheered, pumping my fist into the air. Kay just shook her head and hit the gas.

* * *

We spent the rest of the drive chatting about nothing in particular, and anything that caught our interests. A completely different type of inane conversation than what I would have back home with Rach and the others, but still fairly loose.

All of the M4s were sitting out in the parking lot when we arrived, and Kay had to circle around the lot a couple times to find somewhere to park the jeep that wouldn't immediately get it soaked when we inevitably began messing around while cleaning the tanks. A few girls were milling about the tanks, but most of the usual early crew were in the garage. They were gathering and preparing cleaning supplies, by the looks of things.

Most of the M4s weren't actually all that dirty. It was mostly dirt and mud in the tracks and bogies, as well as scorch marks where shells had impacted. A couple had scratches along the armor due to rocks or large trees, or in the case of one particular tank, a rough slide down a very steep slope.

I took a moment to inspect the bow of my tank, marveling at the dings and scratches that had been put into it by the match and drives there and back. They gave the vehicle some character, even if they were very quickly going to be buffed out and painted over. I kinda liked that it had character. Like the tank in *_Fury,_* the tank was its own thing. It had a personality that was probably more defined by the Bandits' laziness and group brand of crazy than anything I had done for it, but it still had some sort of personality.

People filing out of the garage with cleaning supplies caught my attention, and I openly gawked. A vast majority of the Tankery team (or at least those who were currently present), were in bikinis or crop tops with shorts. Some people pulled the look off better than others, and I swear I wasn't the only one staring as Kay sauntered past in an American flag patterned bikini top and short jean shorts.

I only let myself be distracted by the hotness for a moment before I turned back to my tank. Buckets of soapy water were being passed around, and hoses had been run out of the garage. All of which meant that it was time to start cleaning my tank without the presence of the Bandits. Because of course they wouldn't show up early when we were obviously going to be cleaning stuff.

A flash of sunlight reflected off a suddenly very wet tank blinded me momentarily, and I decided to see if there was a pair of sunglasses in the Lost and Found bin in the tank. After a quick rummage, I found two pairs. Well, it was really only one pair, and a pair of American flag patterned shutter shades. I took the generic plastic sunglasses, and then got to cleaning my tank. Alone, because I am an overachiever who can't sit still while there are things I could be working on.

Darned lazy teammates.

It took the Bandits long enough to show up that I'd scrubbed down the hull proper, and was working my way through the muddy track links. I just grumbled at them when they arrived and told them to get to work on the other track. They complied without arguing for once, and we worked in relative quiet.

We weren't even close to the first group done with cleaning and touching up paint, but we also weren't even close to the last group. We were solidly somewhere in the middle, and pretty quickly transitioned from cleaning to maintaining. The tracks were tensioned, gas topped off, and a few other nicks and knacks were fixed up to some standard of well maintained.

Kay called the general assembly after all of the tanks had been cleaned, and most of them maintained. Class today was actually going to be a paper and theory day, rather than a hands-on practice day. That meant TCs were going to one classroom, gunners to another, drivers to a third, and loaders were off to the practice range. The few dedicated radio operators on the team were stuffed in with the TCs.

Arisa was leading the TC class, with the Chieftain alongside to assist her (and reign her in, I would assume). Kay was off with the drivers, Naomi with the gunners, and Arisa's loader, whom I learned was named Hannah, was off with the loaders. The lesson for the TCs was one of tactical planning, reading terrain, and predicting where reported tanks would be and when they would be there.

I was pretty good at the tactical planning part of the class, though my distance-time predictions were kinda poor. A few hypothetical skirmishes were lost because of those poor predictions, though I started compensating by making my plans more defensive. That alleviated my timing problems, but had other issues.

After the hypotheticals were out of the way, the TCs and radio ops piled into the back of one of Saunders' deuce-and-a-halfs to take a tour of the on-ship training field and inspect the various terrain features it had. That was another portion of the lesson where I excelled, because apparently I had a really good read of terrain and what positions were good for being defensive, what ones were good for aggression, and which ones were, well, bad.

Arisa seemed impressed with me, and I hoped that was a good sign of things to come.


	22. Chapter 22

**Hell On Tracks  
****Part 22**

The Friday before the matches against Maple was different than most other practices had been. There was no maintenance period at the start of class, nor was there the usual drills. It was all practice skirmishes, and live-fire drills. Taking shots at an opposing force while coming under fire from said opposing force, utilizing cover to avoid a hail of fire from an opponent you couldn't see or reach, knife-fight skirmishing, that sort of thing.

Blondie complained loudly about the fact that we weren't in our usual tanks for the practice, but I ignored her. Making sure the tanks we were used to were undamaged before the big match was probably pretty important, and if it meant we got to use the M4A3s and M4A6s that so often just sat unused in the garage, well, I wasn't going to say no. They may not be the Hellcat or Stuarts of the Oddball Collection, but no tank deserves to be sitting out of matches just because they aren't the standard M4.

I thought we did pretty well, on all fronts. Sure, we got knocked out a few times, and one incoming shot absolutely annihilated the portside drivewheel and made us swap our A3 for an A6, but we also got more KOs than we were knocked out. We excelled in the knife fights, to which I thank Angel's incredibly quick reaction times. Everyone did their best, and that's all I could really ask for.

The real event came at the end of practice, with Kay's post-practice announcements. This was going to be where we found out who was participating, and who would be sitting in the bleachers, cheering on their teammates. Theoretically, there might be a third category, those who don't come at all, but I honestly have no idea who might be in that group beyond maybe the Bandits.

"Okay everyone!" Kay began. Everyone in the crowd stopped their conversations to listen. "Tomorrow, we will be hosting wonderful guests from Maple High School! We will also be having a series of practice matches with them at Camp Intrepid. The first match will be a five versus five match on a reduced area on the main field. The second will be a five versus five on Practice Field One. The third and final match will be a ten versus ten match on the main field. Tank Commanders, I expect you and your crews to be up and here by six o'clock!"

Kay went on to list who would be participating on what team, by TC. I only recognized a few names, but the important ones to me were Haru and I being in the first match, and Kay, Naomi, and Arisa all taking part in the third match. This was going to be the first match where the Big Three of Saunders' Tankery program were participating since the match against Astoria. Honestly, I was kinda hyped to see them in action again.

* * *

Later that evening, I received a text message from Haru. She was the captain of the match one team, and all of the TCs were invited to her place for a late dinner and a planning session. She'd even gotten pizzas from one of the better pizza places on the ship. I may be more concerned about eating healthy food than most of the students here at Saunders (despite most of them somehow still being insanely fit and attractive despite the sheer amount of fast food available), but even I couldn't say no to good pizza.

I sent Haru a quick reply and then pulled on a raincoat and my Tankery boots, and headed on out. It was raining tonight, but I didn't let the weather get me down as I walked over to Haruna's house. Of course, that didn't stop me from wishing for any kind of vehicle. Haru's house wasn't exactly _close_ to my dorm room.

My mind wandered as I walked through the rain. Mostly about the upcoming match, but also what Maple had bought recently, and if that purchase included a special tank, would they field it in the first match, or save it for the big one? It would depend on whether they wanted to test their new tank against a peer force, or within their own combat structure. You had to expect Kay to put at least some of her big guns in the 10v10, so if it was a heavy tank, they could probably knock it out. The basic M4 with the short 75 might not be able to do the same. But if it was something light and fast, like a Cromwell or Comet, it might be better to use in the big match.

Whatever the case, I probably wouldn't be able to factor it into any planning decisions. It was too unknown. I hated planning around unknowns.

* * *

Haruna's mother opened the door to their house when I knocked, and quickly ushered me up to her room. My first impression of the room was that she was really into music. The walls were covered in posters from various bands and various concerts, including a few that even I could recognize immediately, like The Beatles, AC/DC, Sabaton, a couple of familiar look pop artists whose names weren't on their posters. Haru herself was sitting on her bed, doing something on her phone, and listening to headphones that were connected to a record player.

"Hiya, Haru!" I said with a wave as I entered. Haruna looked up from her phone, and smiled.

"Hello, Tally! I wasn't expecting anyone to be here so soon!" Harua said, taking off her headphones and turning off the record player.

"Eh." I intoned with a shrug. "A little cold never bothered me. Anyways, any preliminary ideas for the match?"

"A few, but I want to wait until everyone shows up before sharing. So I don't have to restate, and everyone can pitch in."

"Okay, fair enough." I said with a shrug. Haru gestured for me to sit down next to her, and she turned the music player back on. Apparently, she had been listening to Sabaton, more specifically, their album devoted to tank battles across history. I personally wasn't a huge fan of metal music, but their tribute to Sensha-do was a very moving power ballad that even I could enjoy.

Haru and I chatted and listened to music while we waited for the rest of the team to show up. We compared our favorite types of music and favorite bands - Haru loved classic rock, and her favorite song of all time was (Don't Fear) The Reaper, by Blue Öyster Cult, while I was more a fan of orchestral works, with my favorite being The Imperial March from Star Wars.

I was just starting to get impatient when the other three TCs arrived. The three of them had arrived all at once and they were all soaked. Apparently the rain had gotten worse after I'd walked over, and their borrowed Willys Jeep wasn't well enough protected against the rain to keep them dry. Haruna's mother offered us a seat at their family kotatsu for the dinner and planning session, which everyone gratefully accepted.

Once the pizza had been served and everyone was nice and warm under the kotatsu, Haruna unrolled her map over the table. The area in which our smaller match was going to take place was outlined, and it mostly centered on the town. The hill was completely out of bounds except as a bit of a natural barrier with its sheer cliff face.

"Okay, so what's our plan, Haru?" I asked.

Haru gave me a look of uncertainty, before plowing forward with her explanation. "The town is probably going to be the focus of the field. It's the only significant cover besides a few crops of trees and the riverbed. So, I want to push the town in force and try to eliminate any opposition there as soon as possible. Platoon One, with tanks One, Two, and Three, will be pushing into the southern part of town." Haru gestured to the three other TCs in sequence. Next she gestured to herself, and then me. "Four and Five will be Platoon Two, and will be securing the northern part of town. Questions so far?"

TC Three raised her hand, pausing in her notetaking. "Should the platoons have different names than the tanks? So we don't get confused?"

The other two nodded along. I nibbled at my pizza thoughtfully, brainstorming name ideas if nobody suggested any.

Haruna didn't say anything for a long moment. "We'll, ah, get back to that one. Any questions related to the plan?"

This time, I spoke up. "Are we sure that full commitment to the town is smart? The 6-pdr on the Ram is better at range than the 75mm, so it would make sense for them to stay back and use their range advantage."

"What would you recommend, then?" Haru asked.

"Platoon Two, whatever we end up actually calling it, instead pushes up the riverbed. It's close enough to the town that we might be able to rush to their support if Platoon One gets engaged by a force they can't deal with." I started. Four sets of eyes were glued to me, even as I indicated places on the map. It was unnerving, and I began to stumble over my words. "It also gives us an op-opportunity to secure a, uh, flank against forces here, and, um…"

I disguised by nerves by taking a bite of pizza and chewing slowly. It helped somewhat, and I gave a look to Haru. I sincerely hoped it was one that was just asking for help instead of full blown panic.

"Okay, you've made your point. Any objections to Platoon Two taking the riverbed?" Haruna asked. Everyone shook their heads. "Alrighty then. Are there any other questions or ideas, or should we move to brainstorming platoon names?"

Nobody had any more plan-related comments, and we spent the next while trying to come up with platoon names while enjoying the pizza and bantering back and forth. We eventually settled on Houshou for Platoon One, and Saratoga for Platoon Two, after the first two school ships. We also settled on Haru for flag tank, but that was an easy decision to come to.


	23. Chapter 23

**Hell On Tracks  
****Part 23**

The morning was miserable. It was cold, and damp, and the M4 Sherman lacked the insulation needed to properly warm me up. My tanker jacket had a bit of padding to it, but whatever warmth I could get from that was ultimately lost by the Tankery-legal skirt. Actually fighting my tank during the match was going to be much worse, because there was no way I was commanding my tank buttoned up until they actually started shooting at us.

Right now, Haruna was meeting with the captain of the Maple team, doing the usual pre-match stuff. Everyone else was waiting in their tanks, thankful to at least be out of the rain, if not fully protected from the cold.

"Nervous?" Tuco asked, breaking me from my thoughts.

"A little. More cold than nervous, right now."

"Makes sense." Tuco shrugged. "Maybe the rain will clear up and we'll be able to not get soaked as soon as we stick our heads out the hatches."

"I seriously doubt that. Rain here ain't like it is on the ship. We can sail away from the weather there, but we're stuck with it here." Blondie commented. "Glad I ain't either'a you."

I scoffed, and then took a sip of my dwindling hot cocoa. Kay had been passing it out at the Tankery garage before we left, and I'd refilled my tea mug with the cocoa once I had consumed all of the caffeinated goodness. It was still warm, and therefore was one of the few things that didn't suck right now.

"All Tank Commanders, this is Haruna. Be careful, our opponent is Maple's overall commander." Haru announced over the radio. I clamped down on my knee before my foot could start tapping nervously. A bunch of tank crews that generally weren't Combat Company ready, versus some of the best that Maple could throw at us. This was going to be bad.

While all of the other TCs acknowledged, I took several deep breaths. Now was not the time for a panic attack. Just need to breathe. In and out. In, and then out.

"Okay everyone, keep an eye out. I heard from Arisa that Maple might have bought a few new tanks, so we should keep an eye out for anything special." I said into the radio, once I had sufficiently calmed down.

"Any idea what it could be?" Haru asked.

"No clue. Arisa just said that they'd made a few purchases, not what they were."

"And you think we might run into it."

"Why else would their overall commander be in the first small match instead of the big one against Kay?"

"A fair point. Platoon Houshou, you'll probably be first to make contact with Maple's forces in the town. Be on guard for anything that isn't a Ram or Grizzly." Haru said. "If you don't know what it is, call it out and Saratoga Platoon will head in as soon as we can to support you."

Everyone acknowledged that, and then we settled into an uneasy quiet. The pounding of the rain against the Sherman's hull drowned out any small noises anyone made inside the tank. The air was starting to get stale in here.

"Hey, Tuco? Do we have a tarp?" I asked, breaking the silence. "Or something waterproof and kinda camouflaged?"

"We should have something like that in one of the external storage bins. Why?"

"I want to crack open my hatch, but don't want to get soaked. If it's outside, I think I'll pass."

"I'll get it." Tuco offered. "You want to drape it over your hatch?"

"Yeah. The double door hatch is at least good for something here." I said with a smile.

Tuco nodded, and opened her hatch. Rain immediately started pouring in and gathering in the bottom of the tank. Blondie grumbled about wet shoes (despite them being waterproofed) as Tuco hopped out and rifled through the bins until she found a tarp. With a little coordination and a couple of bungee cables keeping the thing in place, I now had a makeshift cover for my open hatch. It wouldn't keep all of the rain out, and it certainly wouldn't keep the heat in, but at least I would be drier than everyone else if I fought the tank unbuttoned.

* * *

I was thoroughly cold when the match started. What little heat we'd maintained inside the tank had slipped away with the open hatch. Blondie had complained quite fervently when we started getting really cold, despite still being protected from the wind and rain, and even Angel got in on the complaining when the rain really picked up.

On the bright side, the poor weather would give us a little extra bit of cover when we pushed around the town, and might make shooting us that little bit harder with the very light 6-pdr ammo. If they had anything heavier, we might be in trouble, but we would be in trouble anyways if that was the case. Okay, so it wasn't much of a bright side right now.

"Best of luck, Houshous!" I called over the radio as the two platoons split up.

"Good luck to you, too!" Someone responded. I think it was One's TC, but I wasn't quite sure. She and Two had very similar voices.

And with that, we were off. Saratoga platoon was moving north into the riverbed, and Houshou platoon was going to take the town. I kept my head poking out of my hatch and had my binoculars ready for some long range spotting if I needed it. Right now, it was just jockeying for position and maneuvering around the opposing force.

We were nearly at the river when the first complication arose. The river, while not particularly deep most of the time, was flooded and overflowing. If we tried to use it even as partial cover, we would get stuck or start flooding our tank, some something equally bad.

"Think we can ford it?" I asked Haru as we investigated the river on foot. It wasn't nearly as wide or deep as anything at home, but that didn't mean we could get across it easily on our own.

"We might be able to get over it, but we can't guarantee getting back over it if Houshou needs our help." Haruna answered.

"So there goes our cover as we advance. Wonderful." I groused.

"It was never going to be very much cover anyways. Let's get back to our tanks and follow the river downstream. If we can't use it as cover, then Maple can't either."

"Right!" I said, eager to get out of the rain. The wind was very biting against my soaked and exposed legs, and I honestly wasn't sure if I wanted to stick around and watch Kay's match if it meant freezing my butt off in the stands.

We quickly remounted our tanks and got back on the move. Houshou platoon checked in and said they had yet to make contact with Maple's team. Everything was quiet. Too quiet, if you asked me. The match had been going long enough that we should have made some kind of contact by now.

Haruna and I were nearly directly north of the town when the second complication of the match struck. A shell tracer zipped overhead from somewhere across the flooded river. I ducked instinctivly, before bringing my binoculars up to my face and trying to spot where the offending tank was.

"Contact, ten o'clockish!" I called into my radio. "No eyes on. Blondie, keep us moving!"

The M4 lurched forward, barely dodging a second shell. It came in much faster than a 75mm shell would be. Probably a 6-pdr. Hopefully. If it was a Ram, we could probably deal with it. If it was a Firefly or something else with a 17-pdr, chances were less good.

Just behind me, the 75mm gun on Haru's tank fired, sending a tracer into a patch of trees near where the Maple tank had fired from. A hail of co-ax machine gun tracers followed the 75, and guided me to the target.

"Ram tank, ten thirty, 600 yards!" I called into the turret of the tank. Blondie slammed on the brakes as Angel slewed the gun onto target and serviced them with a burst of .30 cal. Confident that she was on target, Angel gave a quiet call of "On the way!" before firing.

The shot missed, though not by much. Maybe fifteen feet short, and a little to the left of the Ram. I gave corrections, but they were quickly made unimportant when a shell hit our tracks and sent the M4 off balance. We were a sitting duck now, and it was only a matter of time before the Ram knocked us out.

Haru's tank sent another shell downrange, and it was close enough to the target that the splash of dirt landed up on the Ram's glacis plate. Which meant that the Ram was still up. Worse, it was pulling back, so we wouldn't get many more shots into it.

"AP up!" Tuco called.

"On the way!" Angel called again, before sending another shot downrange.

This time, her aim was true. The shell arced beautifully through the rain and wind, and slammed into the upper glacis of the Ram. I wasn't quite sure at this range, but that might have been right around where the driver's hatch was placed on the Ram.

What was important was that when the smoke and debris cleared, there was a pretty little white flag waving in the wind.

"Four, this is Five. Tracks are damaged, and we'll need a bit to repair them. Cover us please." I said into my radio. Haru acknowledged, and I turned to Tuco and Blondie. "Well girls, we need to get this hunk of armor plate moving. You two are with me. Angel, keep an eye out for any more tanks."

"Right." Angel said. Tuco loaded a shell so that Angel would have something to protect us with while Blondie and I hopped out and set to work examining the damage.

"Well, good news is that the bogie is fine. All we gotta do is swap out the damaged wheel and fix the track." Blondie said.

"Time estimate?" I asked.

"Can't say, but it won't be awful. The more hands we have, the faster it'll go."

"Right. We'll, let's get to work. Where do we keep the spares?" I asked. The rain would make this miserable, but this day was already pretty bad, a little more misery wouldn't ruin anything.


	24. Chapter 24

**Hell On Tracks  
****Part 24**

By some miracle, nothing went wrong while we fixed the track. It wasn't the easiest job to do in the pouring rain, and it took Blondie, Tuco, and I about twenty minutes to fix, with a bit of assistance from Haru's tank. The river was still rising, and I was quite happy that we got out of there before it started swamping the tank.

I was up on the Sherman's engine deck packing away the jack when Angel called from inside the turret. "TC, radio!"

Tuco nodded at me and I passed the jack off to her before slipping into the turret, past my makeshift canopy. "What's up, Angel?"

"Houshou has made contact with the enemy. Two was disabled. Four wants you."

"Gotcha. Thanks, Angel." I said, before turning to the radio. "Five here. What's the situation?"

"We're pinned down in the town!" Three called into the radio, panic evident in her voice. In the background, I heard the blast of a shell, and the boom of a 75mm cannon. "Two got taken out in an ambush, and we lost a track as we backed into cover! One made it out, but I don't know how much longer we'll last under this fire!"

"Calm down, Three." Haru interjected. "We're on our way. What are you facing?"

"Uh, right. Two Grizzlies, I think. And, I don't-" Three was momentarily cut off by a resounding boom. "It kinda looks like a fat Sherman? I think it's the flag, but our gun isn't hurting it!"

I reached over around the gun breech and dug Tuco's identification book out of its storage compartment. Pages flipped by and I scanned the images for tanks that looked like Shermans. There was the obvious M4, and all of its variants, but beyond the Jumbo, none of them really counted as a 'fat Sherman' in my mind.

"Three, does it look like a Jumbo?" I asked.

"N-no. It's got sloped sides, and is a lot wider than us. I don't know-" Three was cut off again, but this time didn't come back on the radio moments later.

"Saratoga, this is One. Three's been knocked out. We're retreating."

"Copy that, One. Stay safe. Five, you ready to go?" Haru said.

Tuco gave me a thumbs up as she dropped into her seat. Blondie was already mounted and good to go. "Ready and willing, Four. Lead the way."

* * *

For all of the rain and the mud, we made very good time towards the town. One kept us updated as she retreated, baiting the pursuing three tanks north, towards our incoming pair. Her tank managed to break the tracks on one of the Grizzlies, but didn't knock it out.

Tuco flipped through her identification book, trying to find what the 'fat Sherman' could be, since nobody had any ideas. One's much clearer report described a 75mm gun armed heavy tank that she was easily outrunning, with heavy armor on the front and sloped side plates. Our best guess to what it's identity was an M4A3 Sherman with the Easy Nine suspension extenders, wide tracks, and spaced armor plates on the sides. I had no idea if that was even a thing in the war, but nobody had anything better.

Blondie and Tuco argued about the up-to-dateness of Tuco's book, with Tuco insisting her book was up to date and had every tank owned by the Japanese school ship teams, and a few that were only used at the university level. While it obviously wasn't the case, I believed that she had the most up to date version she could have. If Arisa didn't know what Maple had bought, Tuco certainly wouldn't.

All arguments stopped as Saratoga Platoon entered the town. Mud and gravel paths turned into cobblestone roads, and the rolling hills and open plains turned into flat ground with wooden mockup buildings as cover. This was where we were going to fight Maple's tanks, not argue semantics.

Our tank moved ahead of Haru's, ultimately more expendable in the context of the match. Angel kept the gun pointed straight ahead, while Tuco and I stuck our heads back out into the rain to try and spot targets coming down side paths.

* * *

I was looking off to the tank's right when the 75mm boomed suddenly. My body rocked back and forth with the weapon's recoil, and I quickly pivoted to look forward. A Sherman was sitting in the middle of the road, its white flag sticking up and waving in the wind.

"Good shooting, Angel!" Blondie cheered from the hull. I heard Tuco give the gunner an energetic high five, but I wasn't nearly as enthusiastic about the KO. The logo sitting proudly on the Sherman's upper glacis wasn't that of a moose on a shield. It was the blue star and yellow lightning bolt of Saunders.

Angel had just knocked out a friendly tank.

"Five, what was that?" Haru asked, sounding very upset about what just happened.

"That wasn't my order. My gunner and I will be having words about target identification after the match." I said, my cool tone completely masking how livid I was.

She shot a friendly tank! Even now, I could see the crew members crawling out of their disabled tank and giving rude gestures to us. They were probably shouting some nasty phrases as well, given how irate they looked at this distance.

"Angel, check your fire."

"Nothing else is allied out there besides Four. Don't need to check my fire anymore." Angel retorted. That only served to make me more angry.

This was a team sport, and she just shot at a teammate! If we didn't make combat roster or the tournament team because of this friendly fire incident, I was going to talk to Kay and get a new crew. Heck, I might do it anyway, because that was unacceptable.

"Next time, you check your goddamn fire, Sentenza." My voice was solid, unwavering. Deathly cold.

"Yes'm."

"Good."

With that argument pushed to the backburner for the moment, we pushed further into town, past where One's tank had come from. I received a very angry earful of curses from One's crew as we drove past, and honestly? I couldn't blame them.

The streets were quiet as Haru and my tanks pushed through them. The judges called out the elimination of One's tank. One must have done a wonderful job of losing her pursuers, because they were nowhere to be found. Absolutely nowhere. Haru and I must have swept the entire eastern half of the town, looking for some sign of tanks, and we found nothing.

I could feel my adrenaline and anger fading away during the fruitless search, and I sagged down into my seat and let myself rest for a long minute. Two against four wasn't good odds, even when one of the four was an unknown heavy tank with armor resistant to any of the two's weapons. A victory would have to come from something creative to leverage the advantages of urban fighting.

Even that would require finding the opposing team.

"Hey, Tally?" Tuco asked, breaking me from my reverie.

"Hmm?"

"Did Houshou platoon manage to knock out any tanks?"

"Nope. It's two against four."

"Good." Angel said, her voice bitter and angry. I was about to ask what she meant when the gun fired. Immediately, I reached for my periscope and brought it over to where the gun was aimed.

We were in the town square, where Two and Three had been knocked out. But that didn't explain the third tank which had its barrel depressed as far down as it would go, and now had a white flag flying overhead.

"Okay, two against three. Still not great odds." I amended my previous statement.

"Maple High School, M4A1 Grizzly, disabled!" One of the judges called.

The judges called the knock out quickly. That usually meant that either the flag was disabled, or the situation was very clearcut. And since that Grizzly clearly wasn't the mystery heavy tank with the flag, that meant there weren't any more Maple tanks directly engaged here.

A good thing to know, but also a concerning one. Just what was going on here?

* * *

My question was answered only a few minutes later, as the Maple heavy tank rounded a corner with two tanks in escort. It rounded a corner right in front of us, and I could immediately see why it had been called a fat Sherman. The turret and general shape were unmistakable.

Unfortunately, that meant there was now a heavy tank and two mediums only a couple hundred meters away, with their frontal armor facing directly at us, and a few of their guns pointed this way, too.

"Blondie, full reverse! Angel, hit the Ram!" I called, as a shell impacted the road maybe ten feet in front of our tank. Rock sprayed up and scattered all over the Sherman's front, but that wasn't enough to stop us.

Two 75mm cannons fired nearly in sync, and while I watched our shot go wide, Haru's gunner was right on the money. The Ram's dangerous 6-pdr gun was put out of action swiftly, as a shell hit its turret mantlet and deflected downward into the upper hull of the tank.

The return fire was almost as effective, though. Haru's tank took a shell to the tracks as it was backing around a corner into cover, leaving her half exposed, if at a good angle. That wasn't good.

Angel's next shot bounced off the lower glacis of the heavy tank, deflecting down into the cobblestones. Things were rapidly escalating from bad to worse. Our flag stuck out of cover and just waiting to be eliminated, and their flag, also out of cover, but with armor resistant enough to our shells to not be at risk.

"Blondie, get us behind that heavy. Angel, gun for the Grizzly until we're behind the heavy, then hammer them!" I ordered. A shell whizzed just overhead, and I was very glad to be using the periscope instead of my head for spotting right now.

People acknowledged, and we pushed forward despite the incoming shells. One bounced off our flank at an oblique angle, and another slammed into our bow without disabling us. A lucky hit for certain.

Our 75mm hammered out fire as fast as Tuco could load the gun. Firing on the move was never the best idea, but right now, it was better than stopping to aim. We needed to get behind that heavy. Now.

A shell from Haru's tank slammed into the Grizzly's left track, stopping its advance. A shot from Angel bounced off its bow at a really steep angle, and then my line of sight was blocked by the heavy tank passing between us and the Grizzly.

The heavy was turning, to keep both its gun and its heavy armor pointed towards us. It wasn't quite fast enough, and we zipped past it at 25 miles an hour. Its armor should be weakest in the rear, like almost all tanks, so it was just a matter of slipping around it.

"There! Hit the engine!" I called.

Angel Eyes didn't even need the order. The gun fired as soon as she had a clean shot. At this range, even the 75mm could punch through its heavy armor.

"Maple High School flag tank, T14, disabled! Saunders University High School wins!"


	25. Chapter 25

**Hell On Tracks  
****Part 25**

Kay was livid. She still wore her usual smile, but all of the usual cheer and brightness in her eyes had faded, leaving a fake-looking smile plastered to her face. It was terrifying to watch as she stormed up to our tank in the tank park. "Tally, a word. In private."

There was no arguing with her. It was all I could do to meekly nod while not scrambling away from the safety of the commander's hatch I had just left, or for the cover of my crew. Kay's hand clamped around my wrist like a handcuff, and she dragged me off, away from the tanks and crowds.

What seemed like hours later, but was probably only a minute or so, Kay stopped and released my arm. We had arrived at a small clearing in the forest around Camp Intrepid, with a couple of benches, and a rather upset looking Arisa and Naomi.

"Tally, please, sit." Naomi said, gesturing to a bench across from her and Arisa. I nodded dumbly, and nearly stumbled my way over, before collapsing to it as my legs gave out. The bench was still wet, and that only served to make me more uncomfortable than I already was.

"Tally Evans. Do you know why you are here?" Arisa asked. I shook my head, trying to suppress my oncoming panic attack. It was a losing battle, but if I could delay until after this was done, whatever this was…

"During the match, your tank was observed firing on and eliminating an allied tank with no warning. Did you or did you not intentionally give the order to fire upon your ally?" Kay demanded. When I shook my head, she leaned down in my face. "A yes or no is required, Tally."

"N-no." I croaked out. I could feel the tears streaming down my face.

"Did you identify your ally before giving the order to fire?" Arisa demanded.

"N-no…" My throat caught halfway through the word, and I felt like the well was about to burst.

"Did you give the order to fire?" Kay asked. I tried to speak, to say no, deny having anything to do with the teamkilling, but I couldn't form the words. My whole body was shaking, shivering at this point, and it was all I could do to not completely break down in front of the team leadership.

I shook my head, and the color drained from everyone's faces.

"Did your gunner fire without any order?" Naomi asked softly. I nodded, and slowly drew my knees up to my chest, hugging them.

"Were you aware of a similar incident three days ago, when your tank was reported to have fired at and eliminated an allied tank?" Arisa asked. Again, I shook my head. Kay swore softly.

The three command staff huddled together, whispering quietly between themselves. I couldn't hear them, and I wasn't even focused on them anymore. The well had broken, and I sobbed into my knees. It wasn't full blown wailing, but uncontrollable tears, sobbing, and shaking.

Time faded away from me, and everything slowly went black.

* * *

I was cold when I came to. Cold and soaked. The rain had stopped at some point, but it had gone long enough that my tankery uniform was going to need a very thorough cleaning. At first glance, the clearing was empty. Kay, Arisa, and Naomi were all gone, though as I looked around and regained my senses, I noticed a figure lurking a little ways off.

The blanket that had been draped over my shoulders fell off as I stood on shaky legs and walked over to the figure. Whoever they were, their back was to me, and the hood obscured any chance of figuring out who they were.

I reached out a hand to touch their shoulder, but froze before I could. Did I want to know who was watching over me? They were quite clearly standing guard. A chill ran down my spine as the doubts entered my mind.

Was this what I wanted?

Was winning, and tankery, really worth all of this? Twice now I have had panic attacks during or around matches.

Slowly, I stepped back from the person on guard. Doubts had flooded my mind, and I wanted nothing to do with Tankery, tanks, or the team right now. All I wanted was to return to my dorm, and take a nice long shower to warm up. A bath would be even better, but wasn't readily available in the dorm showers.

Unfortunately, my desires to run off and be alone were being conspired against. The ground around the clearing had turned to a mix of soggy dirt and proper mud, and it only took one misstep to get a foot temporarily caught. I tugged at my stuck foot, but it wasn't moving easily.

When my foot did come free of the mud, it did not come quietly. The mud squelched loudly as my boot pulled away from it, and the hooded figure turned. I stumbled backwards, barely managing to fall against a tree instead of into the mud.

It was Kay. She looked… sad. Not disappointed, not angry, not energetic and cheerful, but sad. Maybe a bit regretful, but that was about my limit of people reading. She refused to meet my eyes, and though her mouth opened as if she wanted to say something, no words came out.

I grabbed the tree behind me, trying to will it away. It didn't budge, but I used it as a level to physically haul myself away from Kay. The intensity of her anger earlier was in the forefront of my mind, and I needed to get away.

My feet carried me far away from Kay, out into the forest. I had a rough idea of which way I needed to go to get back to the tank park. Unless I was horribly turned around, the safety of my tank should be just past… there! The trees thinned out, and I could see the roughed up mud where tank tracks had churned it.

All of the tanks from the first match had been dropped in the tank park in various states of disrepair, and a number of them were being worked on by their crews. A few looked over my way, but I ignored all of them as I half ran, half stumbled over to my tank.

The Bandits were nowhere to be found, and I was very thankful for that. They were the cause of all my problems right now, and just like Kay, I didn't want anything to do with them right now. I just wanted to be alone.

I scrambled up the front of the tank and dropped into the bow gunner's empty seat. It wasn't the most graceful of landings, but it was good enough for me to get inside and close the hatch over my head. Nobody had to know I was in here.

* * *

I didn't really want to know how much time I spent hunkered down in my tank, snacking on potato chips from the Lost and Found, and watching cute videos on my phone to try and cheer myself up. It didn't work very well, and I remained a mixture of scared, panicky, and bone dead tired.

The rumble of tanks passing nearby meant that the second match had finished up, or that the third one was starting. Either way, it meant more activity around the tank park. Not something I was looking forward to, but something I could completely ignore if I wanted to.

Or so I thought. I could hear indecipherable voices outside the tank as people conversed and yelled at each other, but one voice rang quite clearly through the metal of the Sherman's armor.

"She's sad…" A mysterious voice said. "Her crew did something bad, and someone innocent got hurt because of it."

It piqued my interest. Carefully, I wiped the tears away from my eyes and popped open the hatch. A family of three were looking at the tank's bow, with the daughter having her right hand placed against the transmission casing.

"Your tank. She's sad." The girl said, looking up at me. She must have been around my age, maybe a bit younger, but what really surprised me was her eyes. Her blue eyes were both glassy and surprisingly sharp, and they caught me off guard for a moment. "Do you know why she's sad?"

"Jane, come on. We shouldn't bother the tankers while they're busy." The older woman said, gently grabbing Jane's shoulder. The younger one didn't move, and to her credit, the mother didn't push her.

Jane's eyes were intense, and I only stayed quiet for a moment. "She's sad because I screwed up."

"No, she isn't." It was really weird how she said it. Like she actually knew what she was talking about. But tanks were inanimate objects that couldn't talk, or have spirits, or any of that. "It's not your fault."

"Is it, though?"

Jane exchanged a look with her parents (at least, I was assuming they were her parents), and they backed off as she climbed up onto the Sherman's bow to sit next to me. She hesitantly patted my shoulder, but the gesture didn't make me feel any better.

"She knows who is at fault. She doesn't like it when her crew does mean or cruel things, and when people get hurt because of them."


	26. Interlude: Kay 1

**Hell On Tracks  
****Interlude  
****Kay 1**

Kay couldn't stop pacing back and forth near the tank park. If she stopped, she might explode, or punch someone, or scream, or _something_. She had liked and trusted Tally. The rookie TC was an excellent commander and tactician, if she could get over her anxiety. But this…

Blue-on-blue was unacceptable. To have Tally's tank participate in two different blue-on-blue incidents in two matches? Something needed to stop. Once was an accident, twice wasn't a coincidence, and you never let it reach being a pattern.

Now, it could just be chalked up to Tally's inexperience as a TC and a tanker. The shot in the match a few days ago, where her tank had fired on an ally's could be chalked up to a mistake or a miss in a poorly setup crossfire. But the shot that had happened less than fifteen minutes ago was a clear case of not bothering to ID the target before firing on them.

"Arisa, Naomi, clear out the tank park, then meet me at the command clearing. Do it quietly. I don't want rumors starting up over this." Kay ordered her subordinates.

"Yes ma'am!" The two said, before moving to funnel people away from the tanks.

Kay gave a slightly relieved sigh as she watched people comply with her orders. If anything was going to ruin Tally's Tankery career, it would be her and her alone, not any rumors spread by her teammates.

The rumble of a tank entering the tank park was Kay's cue to focus on the area again, finally pausing her pacing. A beaten up and dented M4 Sherman was coming into the tank park, with Tally and most of her crew sticking their heads out despite the rain. They were cheerful, rightfully so in their victory. Kay really hated what she was about to do, but it needed to be done.

Kay marched up to the tank as Tally dismounted. She tried to keep a smile on her face, but the stunned look on Tally's face let Kay know that whatever smile she wore was fake and insincere.

"Tally, a word. In private." Kay demanded. Tally meekly nodded, and Kay could see that she was nearly ready to flee. Instead of letting that happen, Kay's hand found Tally's wrist and dragged her along as she marched back to the command clearing.

A quick glance showed that Tally's crew had guilty looks on their faces. They were experienced enough in Saunders' Tankery to know they had fucked up royally.

* * *

Neither Kay nor Tally said anything as they moved through the forest towards the hidden command clearing. It was a sparse area, with only a few benches and a small campfire pit that they had to haul wood in to use. Arisa and Naomi were waiting for them as they arrived, and both looked suitably upset for the circumstances.

"Tally, please, sit." Naomi said, gesturing to a bench across the clearing from herself. Kay released Tally's hand, and the rookie TC nervously walked over to the bench and unceremoniously sat down. Whatever cheer Tally'd had before getting out of her tank had faded, and she already looked like a nervous wreck. Nevertheless, the impromptu trial had to go on.

"Tally Evans, do you know why you are here?" Arisa asked, starting things off. She had a notepad and a clipboard, ready to jot things down. Things may have been rushed, but there were certain rules to follow for this kind of thing.

Kay waited a moment before Tally shook her head no. Tally was unaware of just how much of a stigma was on teamkilling in Sensha-do, especially here at Saunders. That was on Kay, for not giving proper instruction to the rookie, and instead throwing her straight into a tank.

"During the match, your tank was observed firing on and eliminating an allied tank with no warning. Did you or did you not intentionally give the order to fire upon your ally?" Kay demanded. Tally shook her head, but that wasn't a good enough answer. Anyone could lie with just motions, even someone as nervous and shaking as Tally was. "A yes or no is required, Tally."

"N-no." Tally said softly, her voice hitching.

"Did you identify your ally before giving the order to fire?" Arisa asked. A reasonable question, but still a damning one, if Tally had given the order before IDing someone.

"N-no…" Tally answered, trailing off. She was clearly crying now, and Kay felt awful. Either Tally was an excellent liar and actor, or she really was a hairbreadth from having an anxiety attack.

"Did you give the order to fire?" Kay asked, hoping beyond hope that Tally said no. An insubordinate crew was easier to deal with than a rookie mistake or an overeager commander.

Tally tried to say something. Her mouth formed the words, but they didn't come. She was shaking heavily. After a moment of trying to say something, Tally gave up and shook her head.

The color drained from Kay's face. Tally wasn't at fault, and they had just done the whole interrogation on an innocent and fragile girl. Shit.

"Were you aware of a similar incident three day ago, when your tank was reported to have fired at and eliminated an allied tank?" Arisa asked, referencing the Practice vs Training match at Camp Intrepid when they had first pulled into port.

Once more, Tally shook her head. Kay let out a very soft "Shit!" before gesturing to Arisa and Naomi to come closer.

"We have the wrong tanker." Kay began in a whisper. "She didn't give the order, and wasn't even aware of the last incident."

"Just because she didn't call the shot doesn't mean she isn't at fault." Naomi countered. "Though we may need the Chief to handle her now."

"We're the ones ultimately at fault." Arisa said. "We put a brand new TC with a crew of troublemakers. What did we expect to happen?"

"Not blue-on-blue." Naomi said. "At worst, she would come to us and ask for a transfer to a new crew."

"Do we even have any crews she could join as a TC right now?" Arisa asked, looking at Kay.

The captain thought for a moment before shaking her head. "While it's certainly doable, she would have to drop down to a Training Company team and we would have to break up a crew to put her in."

"It's a better idea than keeping her with San'nin no Tōzoku." Arisa interjected. Kay was about to say something when she looked over at Tally. The rookie TC had fallen silent, and had collapsed on the bench.

"Shit! Arisa, go get the Chieftain, now! Naomi, go find a tarp we can put up over her, or maybe a blanket! Something to keep her warm and dry!" Kay ordered, as she rushed over to Tally.

Right now, more than anything, Kay wished she was better at first aid. Tally was still breathing, which meant that she had just fainted. Certainly not good, but not the worst thing possible. Still, she could do something for the poor girl while her teammates ran off for their objectives. Kay took off her own waterproof coat and draped it over Tally, trying to keep the unconcious girl that little bit drier and warmer.

* * *

The rain stopped before Naomi came back with a blanket and tarp. Kay retrieved her coat from Tally, and helped Naomi drape the blanket over her instead, tucking it in underneath her body.

"Naomi, go find her crew. Don't bring them here, but I want to deal with them. We're going to find out who exactly is at fault for these incidents, and if they try to blame Tally for anything more than being TC, they're all going on probation. Two weeks of no tanks and lessons with the Chief at minimum, and then we give them exactly enough rope to hang themselves with." Kay ordered, once Tally was wrapped up.

"Yes, ma'am!" Naomi said, giving a salute before running off to the tank park.

Kay shook her head sadly, and pulled her rain jacket back on. As much as she wanted to hunt down the Three Bandits herself, Naomi was more than capable of wrangling them, and someone needed to keep an eye on Tally.

Arisa sent her a text that she had found the Chieftain, and that they were on the other end of the camp, but were on their way. Kay smiled sadly, knowing that a chewing out was on the schedule for herself, Arisa, and Naomi for this.

They had all fucked up here. Ultimately, it was their fault. If Tally wanted off the team for this, they would let her go, and it would be a black stain on all three of their records, as well as the entirety of the Saunders Tankery Team.

It wasn't too long before Kay ended up leaning against a tree, keeping her back to Tally and the clearing. She would be able to hear if anyone was approaching, but not very many people actually knew about the command clearing. The only people she should expect to come were Naomi, or Arisa and the Chieftain.

* * *

Kay didn't hear the soft footsteps behind her, too lost in her own thoughts. She did however, hear the loud squelch of mud as someone directly behind her pulled a boot from the mud. Kay turned on a heel to see Tally, up and moving. Stumbling backwards, directly away from her, landing against a tree.

Fear was pasted on Tally's face. Maybe even terror. Kay froze, her mouth half open. She wanted to apologize, to admit her wrongdoing, to offer her unquestioning support, something, anything to make Tally feel better. No words came from her mouth, and by the time her brain had rebooted, Tally was already gone, fleeing back towards the tank park.

"Shit!" Kay swore loudly. Her one opportunity to apologize, and she'd fucked it up. If she was lucky, she might get another chance later, but that might also be too late. Chasing after Tally now would just make things worse.

Exhausted, Kay moved over to one of the benches and sat. She hung her head in shame, awaiting the telling off that the Chieftain no doubt had in store for her.


	27. Chapter 26

**Hell On Tracks  
****Part 26**

My poor mood faded as I hung out with Jane, while her parents went off grab seats and food for the upcoming big match. Jane said she would follow them, but wanted to make sure I was okay first. Though since she said "she" instead of my name, she might have been talking about the tank. She was weird, probably the weirdest person I had met this side of the Pacific Ocean, but she was also cheerful, and liked tanks. And she was attending Saunders, while her dad was an officer at American naval base in Sasebo.

It was a nice setup, I thought. Good schooling, time away from home, but also the ability to visit the family whenever you wanted with very little prep. You know, so long as the school ship was in the Nagasaki area, rather than at sea. I kind of wished that I could have similar arrangements. See my family and all my old friends every now and then.

Jane left just before the third and final match started, and I crawled out of the bow gunner's seat, and into my commander's hatch. The Bandits hadn't left me a note or anything saying where they had gone, but I had to assume that they'd ran off to do their own thing as soon as I had been dragged off by Kay. That was just how they were. Off doing their own thing as soon as someone wasn't looking at them.

Maybe they were setting the right example, there. Maybe I was taking this all too seriously, trying my absolute hardest to get everything right, showing up plenty early to make sure things were 100%, befriending the team captain and occasionally asking her for pointers. Maybe I should have noticed the problems that the Bandits raised sooner, and brought them up with the leadership.

Maybe maybe maybe.

There wasn't any point in maybes right now. What had happened was that I had screwed up, Angel had shot an allied tank two different times, and Kay had blamed me for it. Just thinking about it made me feel extra awful. Right now, I really just wanted nothing to do with tankery or the tankery team. My crew had screwed me over, and the leadership thought it was all my fault, and they were all just the worst for it!

I wanted to go back to the ship. Hide away in my dorm, and not come out until the weekend was over and I had to go to classes. Skip Tankery entirely, avoid Kay, Arisa, Naomi, and everyone else. All of them!

But that might be a bad idea. People would get worried, come check on me. Arisa knew where my dorm room was, and could come knocking whenever she wanted. Hiding wasn't an option. Running away was even less of an option, because I would end up who knows how lost, and that… that would be even worse than dealing with people.

Maybe I could just drop out and get a flight home? There was an airport in Nagasaki, and that wasn't even considering just getting a flight straight off of Saunders. It was based off of an aircraft carrier's design, after all.

That… it was also a bad idea. Might be even worse than just hiding and waiting things out. People would be upset, my parents and sisters would be overly concerned and probably try to helicopter help me, probably sign me back up for a therapist, that sort of thing. People at school would be curious as to why I came back despite being on a year's foreign exchange trip, and rumors would spread. Probably nasty ones.

They were all bad ideas, and it was a bad situation.

The best shot I had would probably just transfer out of Sensha-do. Maybe flower arrangement would be less stressful, and it would certainly be less exciting.

Yeah, that sounded good. At the end of the day, I would go home to my dorm, lock the door for the weekend, and come Monday I would see about swapping classes. People would probably call me a coward for running from Sensha-do, but that was perfectly fine with me.

* * *

My last experience in my tank, or what I hoped would be my last experience with that tank, was to drive it over to the train station and load it onto a cargo car with three other tanks, all heading back to Saunders. I didn't even bother getting on one of the busses for the Tankery team, instead getting on one full of Saunders students who had come to watch the game. I ended up sandwiched against the wall by a girl I didn't know, and we didn't converse at all on the way back to the ship.

There was a package waiting for me at the front desk of the dorm building, from home. A care package with a whole bunch of goodies that I'm sure I would have enjoyed if not for my earlier panic attack and the whole kerfuffle around it. Instead of being excited and ripping the package open at the first private opportunity, I just sort of dropped it on my desk next to my laptop.

From there, I mechanically changed out of my wet and now dried clothes, pulled on a bathrobe, showered, and put on pajamas before collapsing into bed.

Despite how exhausted I was, I didn't fall asleep right away. My futon felt lumpy and uncomfortable beneath me, and no matter how I tossed and turned, I couldn't get comfortable. It was awful. At first I was too warm, so I pulled a few covers away, but then I was much too cold, but when I moved around and adjusted, I was too hot again.

I didn't get much sleep. The little sleep I got was fitful, restless, and full of bad dreams about tankery, the Saunders team, and the few friends I had made here.

It was nearly noon when I finally woke up. I didn't want to move away from my bed, but it was drenched with sweat, and the sun was shining directly in my eyes. Sweaty bedsheets were the worst, and I would need to wash them today at some point. Alongside everything else that needed washing, really.

Someone knocked at my door. They used the classic shave and a haircut rhythm, and it was loud enough that I couldn't just tune them out, no matter how I wanted to. So, I rolled out of bed, impacting the ground with a soft thump that actually helped wake me up, and crawled to my feet. Another knock came, and I grumbled, quickly running a brush through my mess of hair.

Have some patience, will you?

They weren't being patient, and I peeked through the eyehole in the door. The familiar mess of blonde hair could only be one person, and I nearly opened the door for her. With my hand on the door's handle, I froze. I wasn't sure if I was ready to talk with Kay again. Not after yesterday.

No doubt she wanted to apologize for yesterday. For me to forgive and forget. For everything to be hunky-dory, and for everyone to hop back onto the wonderful and glorious ride that was Tankery.

My hand came off the door's handle, and I backed up as Kay knocked again. She lost the pattern, and just started knocking rapidly.

"Tally, I know you're in there! Please come out!" She shouted in English. "We're all worried about you!"

I bit my tongue.

"Tally, please. I'm sorry! I screwed up, badly. It's not your fault! Please, just come out! Talk to me! Tell me off, scream and yell! Something!"

With a heavy sigh, I kicked the door. No communications beyond letting her know I was alive. I could give her that much.

"I'm sorry Tally. I want to make it up to you. Anything you want, please just let me know." Kay said, dropping her volume substantially. "Please."

The one-sided conversation trailed off there, and Kay grew quiet. After a brief moment, she slid a note under the door. She didn't knock or say anything after that.

I picked up the note, and unfolded it. Unsurprisingly, it was a letter, though written in English instead of Japanese.

_Tally,_

_The student leadership of the Saunders Sensha-do team has wronged you. During the match against Maple, they saw that your tank had fired upon an ally, and immediately assumed that the tank commander was at fault. They acted with haste, and without consulting video evidence from the match. This was a mistake, and against the principles of Sensha-do, of being precise, and thinking before acting._

_This does not excuse that you were hurt by this mistake. If it suits you, or if you are planning on leaving the Sensha-do team, please come meet with me at your convenience. My offices are located at the Sensha-do garage, and in the main sports building on campus. I would like to issue a formal apology to you in person, and to help you find the next step in your education here at Saunders, whatever that may be._

_-Signed  
__Instructor Moran  
__The Chieftain_

I wasn't sure what to think. Words escaped me as I sat at my desk and read the letter over again. It might be a good idea to at least speak with him. Talking with the instructor would certainly help with the whole changing of classes, and I didn't even necessarily have to meet him over by the Tankery garage.

It was curious that he sent the letter as a hand written letter through Kay, rather than as an email, but I could ask him about it later. Monday later.

For now, I had a care package from home to open up.


	28. Chapter 27

**Hell On Tracks  
****Part 27**

The package was what I assumed to be pretty standard. It had a big ziploc bag of dried apple rings, some gum, biscotti, teabags, and a few other assorted snacks. Of marginally more importance to me were the mangas that Auntie Nat had sent, and at the top of my list were a bunch of photo prints from friends and family.

There was one of Sasha playing baseball, with Dad in the background doing coachly things. Another from Marie, who had taken a selfie with a 3d printer at school. I couldn't tell what she was printing, but it was sure to be something cool. One of Mom and Sophie baking, with Sophie absolutely covered in flour. Mom was laughing, and I couldn't blame her. I cycled through a few more great photos before I found one that really caught my eye.

Rach had managed to get a photo taken of herself next to one of the tanks we had always wanted to see in person. Snake River University had somehow gotten themselves a T29 heavy tank, and Rach was leaning against its monstrous turret. There was even a note on the back of the photo. '_Finally found a turret that doesn't bite when I try to get in or out! - Rach'_

I bypassed jealousy and went straight to outrage. How could she? We had agreed to go on college tours together, and examine the various Tankery teams. And she went without me, and got to see one of the coolest heavy tanks of the WW2 era! I would trade all of Saunders' Sherman arsenal for that one heavy tank, and it would all be worth it!

No. This was wrong.

I took a deep breath, and slowly released it. Rach is my best friend, I shouldn't be getting angry at her. Yeah, we had agreed to try and do college tours together and see the various college Tankery teams, but that was before I signed up for the foreign exchange program. It made sense that she was going to go looking at the in-state colleges and figure out where she wanted to go.

God, I hated my mind some days. It was okay to be jealous of my best friend doing something cool, but anger and rage? That wasn't cool.

My hands were shaking as I set the photo down. I needed to talk to someone. My parents would probably try to bring me home and be protective. Anyone in the family would eventually let them know, and then I'd get pulled home and subjected to concerned parents.

A smiling face looked up at me from the photo on my desk. Years ago, Rach and I had made an agreement that we would always be able to talk to each other about issues, back when my panic attacks were particularly bad. The Comrade Log agreement, because we would always be there to help with unditching.

I drew in another deep breath and let it go slowly. Then, I pulled out my cellphone and dialed Rach's number. The phone dialed once, twice, and then Rach picked up.

"Hey, this is Rachel."

"Hi Rach. It's Tally."

"Tally!" Rach half shouted. I held the cellphone well away from my ear, and she descended into a short burst of excited squealing. It would have been indecipherable if not for years of practice deciphering it. "Ohmygosh, Tally! It's been so long since we've talked! Why haven't you called or texted since going to Japan? Doesn't matter, you were probably busy. I got to go tour some colleges recently, and Snake River had a T29! It was awesome! Haha, tanks! How are you doing?"

"I'm not doing all that well." I said softly. "Can you go find Comrade Log for me?"

I could almost hear Rach grinding to a halt. There was a good moment of silence before she spoke. "Yeah, sure. I think it's in my room. Lemme go find it." After a bit of walking, Rach spoke up again. This time, she was much quieter, and more restrained. "What's up Tally?"

"Tankery isn't working out…" I said sadly.

"I thought you loved Tankery. What happened?"

"I've had two panic attacks in as many matches. They were only a couple of days apart, too."

"Oh…" Rach intoned. "Can you give me details?"

I nodded, then immediately felt like a dummy and explained about my two panic attacks. The first one, where I was asked to come up with a plan as soon as things started going wrong in our match, and the second with the TK incident and Kay's interrogation.

"That's quite the pickle you're in…" Rach mused, after I finished my explanation. "I've got two thoughts for you."

"What are they?" I asked. I was already feeling better, just being able to talk about my issues with Rach, but any ideas that helped were always, you know, helpful.

"One, talk with Kay. Let her know about your issues, and your panic attacks. Tell your teacher, too. If they know what they are and what causes them, they'll have an easier time working around your issues and supporting you. Two, get yourself a new tank crew. They sound like a bunch of no-good butts, and I think you're hurting yourself more than you know by being with them." Rach said.

"That's it?" I asked, almost disappointed by how simple her advice was.

"Yeah. If those don't work out, talk to me. If you keep having attacks, call me. I'm gonna worry about you, Tally."

"Thanks, Rach."

"No problem! Now, how's school in Japan going besides tanks and buttheads causing panic attacks?"

I smiled, and dove right in to talking about life. I was feeling better, just having been able to talk about things. Calling Rach was the right move, I think.

* * *

Rach and I talked about various things for what felt like a good hour. She described her recent college tours and how the various sports teams were doing, while I talked about how different Saunders was to back home, and how weird some of the Japanisms and American stereotypes on display were. How the Tankery team were all so fit despite consuming so much fast food, I would never quite understand, even with all of the exercise we got.

By the time Rach had to go, I felt like a proper human being again. While I wasn't sure I was ready to talk to Kay or the other Tankery leadership members, I felt well enough to tackle everyday problems like washing my clothes or doing homework. Maybe sending a message to the Chieftain letting him know that I'd like to meet with him tomorrow at his on-campus office.

First things first, food. The snacks I had gotten were nice, but I hadn't eaten proper food since before yesterday's match, and I was starving. There was a cafeteria not too far from my dorm that had really good sandwiches for a low price, or so I'd heard, and it was as good a time as any to check it out.

It took me all of five minutes to pull on some non-pajama clothes and pull my hair into a loose ponytail, and then I was off. The cafeteria was wide open, with a few vendors lining the edges, and a large sandwich bar in the middle. The place was also packed, and the line to the sandwich bar was pretty darned long. Moving quickly, but still long.

I slipped into line for the sandwich bar, scanning the crowd for anyone I recognized. Arisa was having lunch and chatting with a few other Tankery members, at least one of whom I recognized as being in her crew. There were a few non-Tankery classmates scattered around the area, but I only really knew them through classes, and even then not very well. And then my eyes were drawn to an opening in the crowd. One table with only two people, and everyone was avoiding them.

Jane was at that table, and everyone seemed to be avoiding her like the plague. Well, everyone but the one girl who was sitting with her. Sure, Jane was more than a little weird, but that didn't mean everyone should shun her. I'd have to go say hi after I got my food.

A few minutes later, I had my turkey sandwich in hand and meandered my way over to Jane. "This seat open?"

Jane looked up from her lunch, and smiled. "That one is, but if you scoot a little to your left, you'll be fine."

I took her advice and set my lunch tray down. "Who's sitting there?"

"That's where Saunders-Chan is sitting!"

"Saunders-Chan?" I asked, disbelieving. "Like, the school?"

"Yeah! She's really nice. A lot nicer than some of the other schools."

"Ooooookay then." I drew out the word, trying very hard to not roll my eyes or talk down at her.

Jane laughed off my disbelief, before pointing to something out the window. "Oh, April! Look at that Baka-sized murr! It's sho cute!"

Her friend turned and looked out the window. There was a small cat chasing a butterfly, which while cute, wasn't exactly worth making my brain break with those words.

"I understood most of those words individually, but your formed a sentence that made zero sense. In Japanese or in English." I deadpanned.

"It's a murr. An itty bitty little Baka-sized murr. Just look how adorable it is, chasing after that butterfly." The now-named April said, as if that explained everything. Which it didn't. At all.

"It's okay, Tally. You'll either get used to it, or leave me alone like everyone else. Either one is perfectly fine." Jane said softly.

"Hey, no. You're weird, but you're nice. There's nothing wrong about being weird." I said quickly, waving her off. "You would not believe how many weird looks I got back home for being a massive tank nerd. And that's not even counting my friends who are even weirder."

"Thank you!" Jane said with a huge smile.


	29. Chapter 28

**Hell On Tracks  
****Part 28**

Monday morning came around suddenly, it felt like. Maybe my weekend just felt incredibly short, but either way, I wasn't nearly as perky in the morning as I would like to be. I was still up bright and early, and did my usual morning routine up to the point where I normally left my room and headed to the dorm commons to hang out with the other Tankery members.

That was where I paused. Did I really want to deal with the Tankery team again? There were sure to be people upset with the friendly fire against One's tank, and everyone who had watched the match or had a friend who watched the match knew that it had been my tank to do the deed.

No. Going out there right now and facing the fire would be a bad idea. I would be the center of attention, have demands thrown my way, and probably end up having another panic attack. It would be best to just stay in my dorm room until people cleared out a little bit, and probably pass the time reading those mangas that Auntie Nat sent me.

That sounded like a good idea. Just let things pass for now, and deal with people issues after talking to the Chieftain.

* * *

I tugged at the hem of my skirt nervously as I stood in front of the closed door to the Chieftain's office. Two steps and a knock were all it would take for my fate to be decided. All I had to do was take that step. Was I ready to do that?

There was no choice. Either I did it now, or it would never get done. I'd never be able to talk about my issues, and I would probably have to go home when the semester ended, if not earlier. I couldn't do that.

With newfound steel in my heart, I stepped forward and knocked on the door.

"Come in!" The Chieftain called. I opened the door and stepped inside. The Chieftain was sitting behind a surprisingly messy desk, with the only open space being a couple inches of open tabletop around a number of model tanks, and the coffeemaker. The walls were absolutely covered in packed bookshelves, with the books being mostly about tanks or tankery.

Also in the room were Kay, Arisa, and Naomi, sitting off to one side and working on some sort of paperwork. I almost stumbled, but caught myself. The Chieftain alone, I could probably handle, but him plus the leadership team? Not a chance.

"Ah, Tally! Come in, please, take a seat." The Chieftain said with a genial smile. "Kay, would you mind taking the others and working on that out in the hall?"

Kay nodded, and the three leadership filed out, slipping past me. None of them met my eyes on the way out. I didn't try to meet theirs either, and I quietly took a seat across the desk from the Chieftain.

"Sorry for the mess. We were working on a general plan for the upcoming tournament, and well, things spread out." The Chief said, turning away from his computer to face me.

"It's fine." I said softly.

He frowned. "Tally, I'd like to start out by giving a formal apology for the conduct of the Tankery leadership team. They acted in haste, and mindlessly followed protocol. This was unfitting of their leadership position, and I had all three of them write an apology letter to you. So far, only Kay has finished hers."

"Thank you." It wasn't a whisper, but my voice was soft. Lingering doubts bit at the back of my mind.

"Our normal process is to talk to the TC of the offending tank with the whole of the leadership, including myself, and get their side of the story before casting any judgements. We speak to the TC in private, so that she might feel comfortable being honest, and not risk rumors spreading about what is discussed. However, Kay's own report states that she approached the whole incident in a negative state of mind, and she didn't try to get me involved until after you fainted."

"Oh… I guess that makes sense." I commented.

"Thank you." The Chieftain nodded, before turning to his computer and doing something that I couldn't see. "Would you be willing to answer a few questions and give your perspective of the blue-on-blue event?"

"Uh, sure?" I answered uncertainly.

"Okay, good." The Chieftain said. "During the match last Saturday, your tank fired upon an allied tank, commanded by Annabelle Ramirez. Kay's report of your post-match questioning states that you claim to be ignorant of the event until after the shot had been fired and Anna's tank was knocked out. Is this correct?"

"Yeah. I was, um, looking a different way when it happened." I said, nervously. I must have sounded like I was lying, and doing an awful job at it.

"Can you expand upon that? What does 'looking a different way' mean?"

I took a moment to wrack my brain for details before speaking. "We were advancing down the street. Tuco and I were out of our hatches, watching the flanks, while Blondie and Angel, my driver and gunner, were keeping their eyes to the front. Haru's tank was behind us, so we didn't have to watch there, either. It was raining heavily, and visibility was awful, so everyone had to be watching in case our opponents came from an unexpected angle. When One's, er, Anna's tank came around in front of us, I was looking to the tank's right, down an alley. The gun fired without so much as a 'contact front' from Angel, and by the time I turned my head, they had been knocked out."

"I see. So your gunner fired without an order to do so, and without announcing the shot?"

"That's correct." I nodded.

"Okay." The Chieftain said, a wide smile crossing his face. "While we will probably have to ask questions to a few of your teammates to confirm your story, I think we can say for now that you are probably not at fault for actually firing at a friendly tank, or giving the order to do so."

"That easily?" I asked, almost shocked.

"Your story is believable, and lines up with what video evidence we have of the event. Obviously, we can't declare you completely innocent until everyone involved has shared their side of the story." The Chieftain explained.

I let out the breath I didn't realize I was holding with a heavy sigh. "Oh thank god. I thought you were going to call BS on my story, or suggest that I leave Tankery for not controlling my tank. Something awful like that."

The Chieftain laughed. "Tally, I wouldn't do something like that, especially for an inexperienced rookie and first offender like you. We aren't super serious like Kuromorimine and their Nishizumi Style. You're allowed to screw up, make mistakes, so long as you learn from those screwups."

"That's a relief. I was really worried about getting kicked out or having to leave."

"No. If you wanted to leave on your own, you would always be welcome to come back, but we aren't going to kick you out for a single mistake."

"So, what now?" I asked.

"Well, normally, when a tank fires on an allied tank in a live match, that tank's crew is put on punishment duty for two weeks. Due to your crew's, uh, reputation, and some actions prior to your joining of the team, they are going to be put on probation as well."

"What does punishment duty mean?"

"Basically, you can't run your tank, and are moved to paperwork and remedial classes. Target identification practice, terrain reading, maintenance help, that sort of thing." The Chief explained.

"Okay. I take it I'll be included in that punishment?"

"Sort of. Kay actually had a few proposals, if you're willing to hear them from her."

"Oh?" I asked. "Sure, I'll hear them."

"Right away." The Chief said with a smile, before getting up and heading past me into the hall.

I took a moment to look around his office a bit more. Unnoticed in my initial glance around the room was a sizable hat rack with a half dozen wide brimmed cavalry hats, a somewhat faded light gray Saunders baseball hat, and a loose leather tankery helmet.

Also scattered around the room were more models than the one Abrams on his desk, with tanks from every era, and of almost every major tank producer. The Tiger I in a place of honor on a shelf full of other tanks caught my eye in particular, with its yellowish paint job sticking out amongst the sea of grays and greens on the shelf next to it.

The Chieftain came back before I could cast my gaze further around the room and inspect more of the wonders hidden in his shelves. All three of the leadership trio were in tow, and I did my best to not automatically shy away from them.

"Kay, I believe that you have some proposals for miss Evans here?" The Chieftain said, once everyone had taken a seat.

"Hai!" Kay said, before pulling out a smallish notebook. She flipped through it for a moment before finding the page she had been looking for. "Tally, you've had trouble with keeping control over your current crew, right?"

"Yeah. I think Angel's insubordination directly after the friendly fire incident shows that off pretty well." I answered.

"Okay, so my suspicions were correct. Right now, I believe the least preferable option right now would be to keep Tally-chan with a crew that doesn't respect her authority as TC." Kay began. Everyone nodded along, including myself. It was a reasonable assumption, to say the least. "The easiest option would be to simply move her to a different tank as a TC. However, a review of all of the active tanks shows every tank is crewed to at least four people, with a fifth radio operator being present on company and most platoon command tanks."

"What are you gonna propose?" I asked. Naomi gave me a look, but I ignored her.

"The first option would be to move you to the radio operator's slot on one of the open tanks. It would have the least impact on the crew you would be joining, and it would allow you to stay immediately involved in tanking. Option two is to move you to a 'reserve' status as a TC. This would mean you practice with multiple different tank crews, subbing in for their TC during practice, and can take command of any tank on a given day if the TC is out for school reasons, sickness, or any other reason." Kay explained.

I thought about the proposals for a moment. Neither one sounded great. As a radio op, I wouldn't be in command of a tank, which I rather enjoyed, and as a substitute TC, there was no guarantee that I would be able to participate in a meaningful manner.

The room was quiet, with everyone looking at me expectantly. I could feel panic rising up in my chest, but I forced myself to breathe before it could consume me. Not here, not now. Instead, I asked a question. "Are there any other options?"

"We could temporarily activate one of the heavy tanks and slot you into that crew to help and observe." Arisa suggested. "The M6 has a normal crew of six, so the extra body would be helpful."

Kay gave her a look. "Do you just want to have heavy support during the tournament?"

"No! It's an honest idea!" Arisa said hastily, shaking her head.

"It has merit. Tally would be able to integrate better into a crew if she were assigned to work as one of them instead of a radio op, and she could better learn to be a TC by observing how a veteran TC works." Naomi added.

"I'm not so sure…" I mused. "I really enjoyed being a TC, and none of the options keep me in a consistent TC's position."

"Do you want to stay with your tank and crew despite all of the trouble they are and have caused you?" Kay asked.

"It's the only option available to me that keeps me in the TC's hatch and fighting my tank." I said with a shrug.

"Well, your crew is currently on punishment duty, so keeping you in command of the tank would mean you aren't commanding, and aren't even participating in proper practicing." The Chieftain interjected. "As a temporary measure until your crew are allowed back on duty, which of the three options presented to you sounded best, Tally?"

"Uh…" I uhed, thinking. I really didn't like getting demoted to radio op, even temporarily, and reserve status would probably end up forcing me to interact with more people than I was comfortable with at any given point. "The M6 solution. It's got me observing directly from one TC, and it doesn't force me into the radio operator's slot to do it."

"Alrighty then!" The Chieftain said, clapping his hands together. "Arisa, starting today, and for the immediate future, you will be moving from your usual M4A1 into the M6 heavy. Tally will be joining your crew as the assistant loader. Any objections?"

Arisa started to say something, but cut herself off. "No sir."

"Good! Arisa, Naomi, I expect your apology letters for Tally in my office at the garage by class tomorrow. You're all dismissed, and I will see you at practice!"

I nodded, and was the first one out of the Chieftain's office. Arisa and Naomi followed me out, with Kay staying behind. One small tidbit itched at the back of my mind as I walked down to my next class. What exactly did the bandits being on probation mean?


	30. Chapter 29

**Hell On Tracks  
****Part 29**

Math ended up being awful and boring me half to death. Pre-calc was just soul devouring, and I found myself daydreaming about driving or commanding a Hellcat. I felt the imaginary wind on my face as the tank destroyer zipped down a road at fifty miles an hour, and couldn't help but space out and smile. It was a lot more exhilarating than math.

The good mood from my daydreaming didn't last all that long, because Tankery came after math. My tank had been temporarily taken from me alongside my admittedly problematic crew, and I had been thrown into a _heavy tank._ I wanted to be a skirmisher or scout in small fast tanks, and the Chieftain put me as the assistant loader of the biggest, heaviest, and slowest tank in Saunders' arsenal.

I arrived early, as was pretty usual for me by now. The garage was pretty quiet, with a few scattered groups of girls hanging out around their Shermans. A call from Arisa got my attention, and she waved me over to her M4A1, where she and another girl were hanging out. It took me a moment to recognize Hannah, Arisa's loader, due to the large helmet covering up the majority of her ginger hair.

"Ohaio, Tally-sempai!" Hannah greeted as I approached.

"Hiya, Hannah, Arisa!" I greeted in response.

"Hello, Tally." Arisa said with a smile, before gesturing for Hannah and I to follow her towards the oddball collection. "Today is going to be mostly spent getting the M6 into working order, and now that three of us are here, we can get started. First order of business is to make sure that the engine runs well, and then mounting the main gun. Hannah-chan, can you fire up the engine and take it for a test drive with Tally? I'm going to talk to the mechanics and see what we need to do to remount the three-inch gun."

Hannah gave a salute and a quick "Yes ma'am!" in English before dashing off ahead. I nodded, and picked up my pace to follow her when Arisa grabbed my arm. I flinched away from her, breaking contact.

"I… I'm sorry for Saturday." Arisa said. She had a guilty look on her face, but still met my eyes. "You did very well in your match, and that deserves commendation, not reprimand."

"Thank you!" I said with a nod.

"If you ever need help with something, let me know. The leadership screwed up hard, and we should be better than that."

"Ah, alright. I'll, uh, keep that in mind." I stuttered, not sure what to say or think. A favor. This felt like one of those sort of big fantasy novels where the hero earns a favor from some foreign king for a relatively small task, only for it to massively pay off later. Just, wow. Not what I expected to get, especially from this whole mess.

Arisa waved me off, and I hurried off after Hannah. My future loader partner was atop the engine deck of the M6, topping off the fuel tanks. "Oil levels are good, and the gas tank is almost full. There should be a hand crank at the back of the tank for cold starting the radial, so can you get started on that?"

"Got it!" I said, and moved to the back of the tall tank. Hand cranking the M6 turned out to be just as annoying and time consuming as it was on an M4, with the added bonus of it having an even larger engine and more than twice the horsepower. Back before I arrived at Saunders, this probably would have exhausted me all on its own, working the hand crank for a couple of minutes, but Tankery has a way of being full of heavy, annoying, metal plates and very large wrenches that'll get you in shape.

Of course, that was for me. I ate extremely healthy, and yet was only half as fit as Kay was, and she ate fried chicken by the bucket. Was there some special workout routine that I just didn't know about?

I refocused on the real world as I hit sixty rotations of the hand crank. "Should be good to start!"

"Roger!" Hannah replied from further forward. "We're gonna take her for a loop of the shipboard practice field. Can you stay up top and keep an eye on the engine deck?"

"Sure thing!" I responded. Climbing up the back of the tank was rather difficult, due to the lack of handholds and places to put your feet on the end of the M6. I struggled to lift myself up through sheer brute force, but I still lacked that level of upper body strength, so I eventually gave up and found a ladder nearby.

Hannah started the tank's engine as soon as I slotted myself into the TC's hatch. The massive 850 horsepower radial coughed and sputtered before turning over. The rumbling of the engine made the whole tank vibrate subtly, and I couldn't help but grin. The tank may be a slow piece of junk that's as tall as a tree, but it had lots of power.

Together, we steered the heavy tank out of the garage and towards the practice field. Twenty two miles an hour was frustratingly slow, and I found myself fidgeting anxiously, wanting to go just that little bit faster. Not that I let Hannah know, of course. It was perfectly serviceable for a heavy tank, at least until you compared it to the Tigers, IS series, or Pershings.

Perfectly serviceable, and still incredibly, mind bogglingly slow. More than eight hundred horsepower, and the US Army could only get twenty-two miles per hour out of it. I could think of tanks with engines half as powerful and almost twice as fast. Not big, fat, slow heavies, sure, but still!

* * *

The trip around the practice field was honestly pretty boring. I was pretty familiar with the terrain, and the slowness of the tank meant riding unbuttoned wasn't near as fun as it was in the Sherman, or something even faster. The M6 itself handled the mixed terrain pretty well, with surprisingly good weight distribution and power going up hills. Not as good as a Churchill, but the Churches are the high standard that every other tank has to live up to for terrain crossing.

Naturally, as Hannah was guiding the M6 back into the garage, things started going sideways. The Bandits had arrived early and saw me coming in.

"Hey Tally!" Tuco called with a cheerful wave. "We getting a new tank?"

I froze, not looking forward to talking to them. Kay had promised she would handle them for me, but she was inside the hangar last I'd seen, while Hannah and I were out in the parking lot. "It's not ours, sorry."

"Darned shame. You look mighty fine in that TC's hatch!" Blondie said with a smile as the Bandits approached.

"I'm just giving it a test ride for Arisa. Making sure it's still in good shape." I explained.

"A fine endeavour. We'll meet you over by our Sherman, commander." Angel said with a nod. I wasn't quite sure what to think, especially with her being so polite.

"Ah, yeah. I'll see you girls over there." I waved them off, and dropped down into the TC's seat, buttoning up for a short moment to cool down. All I had to do was let Kay deal with them, and I would be fine.

Hannah brought us into the garage while I cooled down, and parked the heavy tank right next to Arisa's M4A1. "Everything looks good, Tally!"

"Great! So we just need to mount the three-inch, right?" I asked, climbing down out of the turret and down into the hull.

"Pretty much. Arisa should be coordinating with the repair crews for where we need to drop the tank off and help mount it."

"And that's just removing the mantlet, mounting the gun, and putting the mantlet back on?"

"More or less. Our job is just to do as the mechanics tell us, and stay out of their way." Hannah said with a shrug.

I nodded. "Makes sense."

* * *

Arisa knocked on the driver's hatch a few minutes later, with instructions on where to take the M6 for weapon mounting. Lina was apparently in charge of the weapon mounting process, and wanted the tank down in the repair bay. I lounged in the spacious assistant loader's seat as Hannah drove the tank over to the repair elevator.

My occasionally grumpy mechanic friend came over as we landed in the repair bay, and directed Hannah over to a repair crane. "Alright you three are my grunt labor for today. We'll all need to work together and rapidly if we want this beast ready to go by the start of class, so hop top it!"

Arisa, Hannah, and I all gave a quick "yes ma'am!" before hopping out of the tank and getting to work. Hannah was directed to operate the crane while Arisa and I were tasked with grunt labor and 'elbow grease.' Apparently that meant we were doing the hard work of removing however many bolts were keeping the mantlet attached to the front of the turret and looping the chains on the crane around it so that it didn't fall and crush us when it came loose.

"Alright, back up and let the crane haul it away!" Lina directed. I hopped off the front plate while Arisa climbed onto the turret and slid inside. The carbon alloy-lined steel plate fell away from the turret and was caught by the crane, where Hannah set it down surprisingly gently.

Mounting the gun wasn't all that difficult, at least on my end of things. Lina gave orders and helped with aligning it properly, while Arisa made sure everything was good on the inside of the turret. I was just sorta brute muscle getting things into place as the crane supported all of the gun's weight.

"Ah, dangit!" Lina called out as we finished slotting the gun into place. "Time's up. You three get up top, the mechanics will finish the rest down here."

"Thank you for all of your help, Lina-san!" Hannah said with a smile.

"It's nothing, really."

The three of us filed out and up the stairs, but Lina grabbed my shoulder before I could make it out.

"What happened this weekend, Tally?" Lina asked. "I heard some rumors, and your tank showed up on the train with no crew to bring it in."

I didn't say anything for a hot minute. "There was… some drama during the match. Some accidental friendly fire, and the Bandits all fled the scene basically as soon as we were off the field."

Lina cursed. "I knew they were no good. Always have been. Listen, if you need a replacement crew member, just call me. I may not be great at driving or shooting, but if you need a brute muscle loader or spare crew for in the field repairs, I'm your girl."

"Thank you, Lina!" I cheered. She patted me on the back, and shooed me off upstairs. Time for tankery. Haha, tanks!


	31. Chapter 30

**Hell On Tracks  
****Part 30**

"Okay everyone!" Kay began with a big grin. "I want to give a big round of congratulations to all of the teams who won, and all of the tanks who landed a knockout in this weekend's matches! To those who either did not win, or did not earn a K.O., don't lose hope! Your day and your victory will come another day, so long as you keep working hard! There will be a barbecue tonight after practice, with the Chieftain's famous burgers and pulled pork sliders!"

A cheer went up among the crowd. I wasn't among the cheering, mostly because

attending would mean sticking around for a party. Too many people being social

all at once for me, especially when people tried to talk to me.

"Just because we are partying tonight does not mean we should not relax now! There is

still much work to do, both in repairing those tanks that were damaged, and drills." Kay continued once the cheer had died down. "The National Tournament is only two weeks away, and we don't want Kuromorimine or Pravda to remain at the top, do we?"

"NO!" The crowd responded.

"Good! Company commanders, come see me after your tanks have been maintained for your weekly practice schedule! Everyone else, check on your tanks and get warmed up! Dismissed!"

As the crowd began dispersing to their tanks, I tried to make my way back to the repair bay without getting spotted by the Bandits, assuming they were still around and Kay hadn't talked to them yet. They might have some awkward questions that I really didn't want to answer.

"Hey, Tally!" Tuco called over the din of the crowd. She was sitting atop our Sherman's front slope and waving over to me. The other two were with her, lounging about the tank and not doing the maintenance work they should have been doing if Kay hadn't sat them down and had a talk with them.

I waved back and walked over to them, trying very hard not to grimace. Hopefully these were just doubts rather than an actual regret that wanting to rejoin them as a commander was a bad idea. I still wanted to command a tank, and unless I found another two people to join myself and Lina, that wasn't happening anytime soon. "Hey girls. Shouldn't you already be doing maintenance? We ran the Sherman pretty hard on Saturday."

"We were waiting for you." Blondie said with a shrug.

"Yeah! We always do a much better job when you're helping and telling us what to do!" Tuco added with a big smile.

"Have you considered that's because I do all of the hard work while you lot slack off?" I asked, only half joking.

"That's it!" Tuco cheered. "We get the work done right when you're here, so it's obviously your stellar leadership that inspires us to work better!"

I facepalmed. "I don't think that's how this works."

"Isn't it?" Angel asked innocently.

"No, it isn't. Look, Arisa asked me to help with getting the M6 up and running, and they still need me over there. So, why don't you three get started on cleaning and tensioning the tracks."

Nobody moved. I gave them a disappointed look, but years of experiencing something from Mom didn't magically give me the ability to inflict the same devastation that she could.

"Are we really doing this?" I asked.

"Depends on what exactly it is you think we're doin'." Blondie countered.

"I'll take that as a yes, then. Well, I'm gonna go help Arisa with the M6 like I promised, and if you haven't cleaned and tensioned the tracks, and aren't working on the rest of the tank by the time I get back, I think I might have some words with Kay."

"There's no need for that, Tally!" Kay cheered from behind me. "I wanted to have a word with them about what happened on Saturday anyways! You go help Arisa-chan, and don't worry about your tank."

The threat of dealing with Kay was apparently more than the Bandits were expecting to deal with, because they tried to scramble into action doing maintenance, but her words stopped them cold. I stepped aside to better look at both parties and saw a dangerous smile on Kay's face. It was similar to the one she had worn when pulling me away after the match, but less anger and more… I wasn't sure how to describe it, but it was intimidating.

"You three, come with me please. _We need to have a talk._" Kay stated, beckoning the Bandits to come with her. It took a moment for them to come to their senses, but when they did, they followed Kay without complaint or question.

I breathed a sigh of relief and made my way over to the repair bay. Lina had finished up with the mounting of the gun with the help of a few other auto club mechanics, and was doing last minute checks with Arisa before putting the heavy tank on the elevator back up to the main floor of the garage.

* * *

Arisa was a harsh taskmaster in training. Even just for the first day of training with a new tank and a new crewmember, she pushed everyone hard. As assistant loader, I was pretty lucky, but it was also a job that my body wasn't exactly prepared for. Three-inch shells were surprisingly heavy, and while I only had to move them from magazines on either side of the lower hull and pass them to Hannah in the turret, that was still a lot of movement in the cramped conditions of a tank.

By the time training was finished and everyone was moving to the practice field for the day's skirmish, my arms felt like wet noodles, limp and unable to lift even the slightest bit more. My back and neck were cramping in the small interior space, and I had bonked my head more times than I bothered to count. I already missed being able to stick my head out a hatch and only have to worry about spotting targets, coordinating with other tanks, come up with a quick and dirty plan, calling out targets, and handling my crew. Things I could do with my eyes, brain, and mouth, rather than my weak little arms.

Naturally, Kay decided that the completely green crew that was still working on their retraining should participate in the day's skirmish. Hannah just patted my back softly and passed me some pain relievers, a knowing smile on her face.

This was gonna suuuuuck.

* * *

My first match where I wasn't commanding my own tank did in fact suck, but not because my arms hurt like no tomorrow. That was a part of it, but not the full reason. The match had been hilariously lopsided against us, roughly two tanks to one, and the M6 stuck out of all cover like a sore thumb.

Arisa had positioned our team's forces well, putting three of the four Shermans on rearguard in the low valley, while the other one watched the M6's flank at the opponent's side of the valley. So instead of my usual plans of being sneaky, staying mobile, and personally being on the flanking force, we were dug into a very defensible position in a tank that was rather resistant to 75mm fire from the front.

Being resistant to the incoming fire doesn't mean immune, however. When six or seven M4s opened up at us from long range, the M6 managed to shrug off all direct hits, but it rocked like no tomorrow, bouncing everyone who wasn't strapped into a seat around like dice in a cup before someone rolls. This happened to include the poor rookie assistant loader trying to handle fifteen-pound shells with already sore arms.

There were cries to fire the gun, but it was empty, and Hannah had no rounds in the ready rack to load. Meanwhile, I had dropped a shell on my foot and was more concerned about my personal wellbeing than making sure the gun could fire. A mistake, but an understandable one for someone who has literally only been doing this job for a couple hours, and never before under fire.

It took me until we had pulled back from the incoming fire to properly find my senses and get back to passing ammo to Hannah. Arisa berated me for failing in my duties as assistant loader, which I took on the chin, not willing to let her get under my skin so soon after my last panic attack.

When we ran back into the majority of the other team's tanks, they were charging the valley we were dug into. They were firing while on the move, rapidly closing the range and missing wildly, while we were firing from an entrenched and stable firing position. We managed to knock out a couple of them before the Shermans were on top of our position.

We didn't stand a chance, though we didn't go down without fighting. As soon as one Sherman got around our flank, we were done for, and that wasn't all that hard when the M6 was as massive as it was and had sides as large as barns. I managed to keep my cool passing shells, though. It wasn't enough to save our tank, but there never really was much of a chance in that regard.

The match ended up as a loss, the first one I'd actually lost. To be honest, I felt worse about how tired my arms were, and how much my head hurt after being banged around than actually losing the match. The wonders of being just another cog in the machine of the tank rather than the commander or team planner.


	32. Chapter 31

**Hell On Tracks  
****Part 31**

Kay intercepted me as I tried to leave the practice grounds. Practice was over, the party was getting started, and I just wanted to go back to my dorm, take a nice warm shower, and sleep off my sore arms.

"Hey Tali! You should stick around a while!" Kay said cheerfully as she walked over. She'd stripped off her usual tankery uniform to reveal a comfortable dark tanktop that showed off just a bit of her midriff, and - _oh lord those abs. _They weren't the rock solid clearly unhealthy ones that you could grind cheese on, but they were nonetheless impressive for a girl that eats as much as she does.

"Oh, hiya, Kay." I said, giving Kay a slight wave. "Not feeling too great, and I kinda just want to head back to my dorm and rest."

"That's not good!" Kay blurted out in English, catching me by surprise for a moment. "Tali, you just sit down and rest your head for a bit. I'll give you a ride to your dorm after dinner. If you aren't feeling well, you shouldn't be walking that far."

I wanted to protest, but Kay grabbed me by the shoulders and led me over to the parking lot, where her Jeep was waiting. "Here, just stay here. Do you want me to bring you some food when it's ready?"

"Sure." I said quietly. "A couple of sliders would be fine."

"Okay!" Kay acknowledged, helping me climb into the passenger seat of the car. After I was in, she didn't immediately run off to join the congregation of girls over closer to the garage where music was starting to blast.

"Are you not gonna go party?" I asked, confused.

"Not yet. I'm asking you to stick around, so I figure you may as well have someone to keep you company." Kay answered, hopping into the driver's seat. "I just don't want to miss dinner call."

"Ah, okay."

* * *

We sat in the Jeep for a while, chatting about anything and everything. Kay inquired as to how my day as a loader went, and professed a certain gladness that I wore heavy boots in the tank which protected my foot when I dropped a shell on it. I mentioned the snacks that my family had sent, to which Kay had great enthusiasm. One apparent downside to the school ships was that all of the food either had to be imported via transports, or grown onboard, which meant that, among other things, fresh apples were a rarity.

Then, the Chieftain called everyone for dinner, and Kay ran off to get food. I spent the moment of solitude thinking. Thinking about my day, how Arisa had handled her crew (including myself) versus how I basically let the Bandits do their own thing in the tank, relying on their experience to get things done. I considered her tactics in the practice match, being very aggressive in positioning, but also passive and defensive. Stuff like the use of the superiority in direct combat of the M6 compared to a Sherman with the 75.

Kay returned with a sizable stack of pulled pork sliders. "Hey Tali! Just take as many as you want from my plate. I won't miss a few."

"Thanks Kay." I nodded in appreciation as Kay sat down in the car and began digging into her food. I grabbed one off the stack and took a tentative bite. It was… alright. I'd had better pulled pork at barbecue restaurants back home, but part of that was usually the sauce, and the sauce being used here just wasn't strong enough for my liking. "So, bit of a random question…"

"Hmm? What's up?"

"Why don't we use heavy tanks more often? Or even just have more? There's what, four total heavies in the arsenal here?"

"Good question!" Kay gave me a thumbs up. "Look back at what Maple fielded on Saturday."

"Mostly Rams and Grizzlies. And the, what was it, T14?"

"Yup! Rams, Grizzlies, and a couple of early model Churchills with the hull mounted howitzer. And the T14. That's actually one of the stronger team compositions for a 'minor' school."

"A minor school?" I asked, confused.

"Yeah. There's the Big Four teams in the Sensha-do league here. Saunders, Kuromorimine, Pravda, and St. Gloriana. We're the richest teams with the largest arsenals, and the best tanks. Every other team has to make do with basically scraps. Something like an M4A2 or StuG is considered powerful. Teams like Maginot or BC Freedom rely on early war tanks. Anzio has a team almost purely made up of tankettes."

"So against most schools, a heavy tank is overkill?"

"Very nice!" Kay grinned widely. "Sensha-do isn't about winning harder like it sometimes is in America. The goal is to grow as a woman, and as a person. It teaches us lessons and makes us better people by striving to have a fun, fair match for everyone involved."

"But what about against the other three teams in the Big Four?"

"What we have is enough. Against Kuromorimine, the goal is usually to not get into a prolonged fight, but get around their flanks, hammer them, and then fade away. Pravda and St Gloriana are a lot easier to deal with, being mostly T-34s and Matildas, respectively. Something like a T29 heavy tank would be a massive escalation in a situation where it would make the Sensha-do experience worse for everyone."

"Huh." I said simply. The slider in my hands found its way to my mouth as I pondered what exactly that meant. "Rach got to try out a T29 a little while back. First tank that didn't bite her when she tried to get in it."

"Bite her?" Kay asked. I gestured to my chest with one hand, roughly indicating how much bigger Rach was than either of us. "Oooh. I see. Has she tried an M4? The later models are pretty good about that."

"Unless she found some in the time I've been here, only one we've seen was a small hatch one. And even the commander's cupola was tight for her."

"Ouch." Kay winced. "At least it wasn't a Matilda. Those things are small."

"Really? I haven't been in one, or up close to one, now that I think about it."

"They're cramped. Well armored, a good anti-tank gun for its time, but uncomfortable for the crew. Though just about everything is uncomfortable when you compare it to a Sherman or other mid-late war American design."

"Hmm. Good to know."

Conversation trailed off for a bit while we ate. Kay was practically inhaling her sliders, while I ate a lot less food at a much more reasonable pace. I think I ended up grabbing three sliders in total before Kay had eaten all the rest.

"You ready to go home?" Kay asked once all of the food was gone. I nodded, and she started the Jeep's engine.

As we drove to my dorm, we were temporarily interrupted by the school ship sounding its massive horn, which reverberated through our bodies. The school was pulling away from shore. Due to the ship's massive size, Kay and I didn't feel anything while we were on the road, but I could clearly see the mountain waaaaaay off on the horizon slowly drawing further away.

The drive was a little shorter than it usually was, thanks to roads being more or less clear at this hour, and Kay parked the Jeep right in front of my dorm building.

"Tali, before you go…" Kay began, as I got myself out of the car.

"What's up?" If she tried to apologize again for Saturday, I was going to do something. Not sure what, but I wouldn't be happy about it.

"There's a match against Maginot later this week. I already have a plan, but I was wondering if you could try and draft up your own hypothetical battleplan? Eight M4s, the Firefly, and the M6 versus a mix of early French designs. Mostly SOMUAs, with some B1s and a mix of other tanks."

I pondered the request. "Why?"

"Think of it as a test. I've seen your tactical analyses of a couple different practice matches, and you led your platoon well enough during the Maple match, but I want to see how you would fight with a full force against a similar full force." Kay explained.

"Just as a test?"

"Yup! I'm not going to force you to lead it in the match, especially as a loader in the flag tank."

"Hmm." I said, crossing my arms and drumming my fingers against my arm. "Sure. When's the match?'

"Thursday, but we're flying to Maginot's landed school Wednesday evening."

"Alright. I'll try to have something for you by Wednesday. See you tomorrow, Kay!"

"See you tomorrow!" Kay said with a wave. She gunned the Jeep's engine, and zoomed off back towards the Tankery garage to catch at least the tail end of the party.

* * *

My mind was already whirring as I made my way up to my dorm room. The Sherman was superior in every way to early French tanks, mobility, visibility, firepower, effective armor. My initial idea would be to use that technological advantage, engage in a straight up fight, and hammer the other team into submission.

But that wouldn't help us in Sensha-do. Kay's words on a fun-but-fair match lingered in my head. A fight where we won because the opposing team didn't have much of a technological chance wouldn't help anybody grow.

Bringing the M6 almost felt like cheating, in that regard. More than enough armor to resist any 47mm gun, and a gun more powerful than any pre-war tank could resist. The Firefly at least had the weaknesses of being a Sherman, even if its gun was probably overkill. Definitely overkill.

I opened the door to my room and slipped inside, letting my hair out of its braid and plonking down on my futon. The soreness of my arms crept up on me once more, and I really didn't want to get off of my bed to go shower.

Maybe I could try and do hit and fade attacks from the flanks of Maginot's forces, baiting them towards the tank killers in the M6 and Firefly. Use one platoon of two M4s basically as bait, while the other two groups of Shermans cover their flank from a reasonable distance, and complete the encirclement to keep the less capable tanks trapped and ripe for the picking at the leisure of Arisa and Naomi.

That could work. It gets everyone involved in the match, and doesn't rely purely on brute force and ignorance to win the day. Of course, this was all just preliminary brainstorming. I'd have to do some more research into what Maginot's force composition was, as well as their usual strategies.

Crud. Now I had to get out of bed to write this down and then go shower. More brainstorming could come later, or perhaps tomorrow.


	33. Chapter 32

**Hell On Tracks  
****Part 32**

Hannah invited me to join her for a workout Tuesday morning. We had some loader to assistant loader chats during the session, but she was mostly focused on figuring out where I was on the whole weightlifting thing, to better improve my passing of three inch ammo to her. I got the impression that I was somewhat weaker than she expected, but I didn't feel bad about where I was. Using the big wrench for maintenance can only carry you so far with muscle building.

I was tired and my arms were sore at the end of the workout, and then it was back to my dorm for a little personal time before my first class of the day. I opened up my laptop and immediately went to look up various matches from Maginot. There were only a few on YouTube for me to watch, and they were mostly highlight reels. The newest match was a few years old, and between Maginot and Waffle Academy.

The highlights reel showed Waffle using M4 Shermans and dinky little French light tanks against a force of B1s, S35s, and dinky little French light tanks. Maginot's team endured a fairly savage bombardment from the Shermans, which looked to be armed with the 105mm howitzer, and then slaughtered the dinky lights that tried to rush their position. Waffle's flag was among the lights, and was knocked out, winning the game for Maginot.

There was probably a bunch cut out of the match to trim it down to a ten minute highlight reel, but it showed Maginot in a well entrenched position and resisting a heavy bombardment without much loss in capability. At least, not enough was lost to make the light tanks any more effective against S35s or B1s. Maybe a force of Shermans would be more effective in that regard.

A second, and older, video showed more of the same, with Maginot doing their best to fend off an assault of Matilda IIs and a Churchill from St. Gloriana. This was a less successful defense, but Maginot refused to abandon their defensive position and retreat in the face of a frankly overwhelming opponent. The brawl was short and brutal, with St Glo winning handily. Maginot's team was a great defensive fortress, much like the series of fortifications the school was named after.

More videos showed that Maginot basically conceded the initiative in any match, preferring to let opposing teams break upon their fortifications or break the fortifications. They were very good at protecting as much of their tanks as possible from the primary assumed direction of incoming fire.

My plan about baiting them out into the open and encircling them wasn't going to work. Maginot just refused to abandon their positions. They didn't visibly panic, they didn't flee, they stood their ground and fought. Long range engagements would probably favor Maginot, because they would have lots of cover, and probably the high ground. Breaking their lines might work with Shermans, but a close range brawl could go either way very quickly.

If only we had a scout tank. We could find where they were entrenched, find a way around that fortification, and get behind them, potentially without Maginot noticing. Limited to Shermans and the M6, local force superiority wasn't a thing we could really acquire, so platoons would be more or less useless except to engage from multiple directions at once.

Dangit Kay! Now I want to command one of the Stuarts, or heaven forbid one of the Locusts. Though that would mean either retraining the Bandits, or finding enough people to fill out a whole new tank in the roster.

* * *

The planning session was unfortunately put on pause when I had to run to classes, and then it was on to Sensha-do without much time to consider the plan. Kay picked me up at the usual spot, and we were off.

"How goes your planning?" Kay asked at a stop sign.

"Not as well as I would hope. I don't know if I'm overthinking things, but I just don't have a good reliable plan that doesn't rely on sheer technological superiority to win the day. I know that an M4 is very capable of resisting the French 47mm gun from the front while they can't do the same to our 75s, but I don't want to get in close for a brawl. Maginot is going to be very hard to hit at long range due to them digging in and maximizing their cover, so a sniping duel relying on the Firefly and M6 won't work very well." I answered as we started moving again. "There aren't any recon vehicles on the roster you gave me, so I can't really try to use that to find a way around Maginot's entrenchment and hit them from behind."

Kay nodded along with my rambling. "Those are all good thoughts. So, long range is out due to them probably having better cover than us, and short range is out because it's unreliable. What can you do at medium range?"

"Nothing really substantial, I think."

"Why's that?"

"Well, without knowing the terrain of the match, I have to assume that Maginot will dig in at a position with good sightlines that's hard to get around, and is preferably on the high ground. A similar position to the hill on the main field at the camp, basically. There isn't really an option to fight at midrange while protecting our own tanks."

"A fair assumption if you assume that there will be a high ground position with good sightlines. Let's assume that they have a position that isn't much higher than the surrounding area, but still has good sightlines. What would you do then?" Kay asked.

I thought for a moment, sitting up a little higher in the jeep to let the wind blow against my face. "Assuming that the high ground is contested or non-existent, skirmishers. Use platoons of two or three tanks to engage their forces on as many sides as possible, then use the M6 and Firefly to punch a hole on their lines to exploit."

"But you don't want a close ranged brawl." Kay stated.

"Yup. The intent of the skirmishers is to spread Maginot's lines thin. Make them react on the flanks or be punished for it. Once they're spread out, engaging at close range is less risky because we'll have immediate local force superiority."

"So your plan is to let them react to probing shots on the flanks, and then either engage with a heavy force through a weakened center, or hammer their flanks until they collapse on the ends of their line?" Kay restated.

"If they stick to their guns and stay locked in a good defensive position, yes. I wouldn't try this against a more mobile team. Constantly moving skirmishers can't hold an encirclement unless your opponent obliges you. It'd probably work better if the skirmishers were lights, like the Stuarts or Chaffee." I mused, more to myself than Kay.

"It sounds like you have a pretty good plan!" Kay said cheerfully. We were nearly at the tankery garage, and I wasn't sure that my answer to Kay's queries were good. Or, at least good enough for me.

"Maybe. I'll have something more solid for you tomorrow. Just need more time to think on it and write stuff out."

"Okay! Just remember that you don't have to be perfect! A good plan can be just as effective as a perfect one, and usually is less strenuous on the people performing it." Kay cautioned as we pulled into the garage's parking lot.

* * *

Despite only being slightly less sore than the previous night, I stayed up way too late working on my plan for Kay. Practice had been pretty much the same thing as it had been yesterday, excepting that the M6 wasn't slated for the skirmish. It did give me more time to watch a live match and consider how my plan was progressing.

I wished that I had some sort of map of what the arena would look like. An aerial photo, a detailed map with elevations, heck, even a rough sketch would help a ton. If I could find suitable areas where I would expect a heavily defensive team to set up, then I could make plans for those specific locations.

Eventually, I just had to settle for rough scenarios. One where Maginot settled on a piece of high ground with good sightlines to the surrounding area, one where there were limited options of actually advancing on Maginot's defensive line, and one where they had set up in what basically amounted to a small thicket of trees which was hard to approach, but could easily be maneuvered around and engaged from all sides.

Limited approaches was definitely the most difficult of the three scenarios, and basically relied upon a brute force charge led by the M6 to get us close and engage in a less than ideal situation where anything could go wrong. A simple high ground with sightlines gave Maginot the benefit of good entrenchment, but also had ample opportunities to get around, probe for weaknesses in the line, and maybe get some lucky knockouts. Defending from equal ground had the best opportunities to engage from longer ranges, such as letting skirmishers harass from a safe distance.

I always disliked teams that basically hunkered down and let the other team do as they wanted in a match. There was no maneuvering, picking off targets of opportunity as the teams jockeyed for the best positions before getting bogged down in firefights and allowing for flanking opportunities. It almost always just boiled down to which team had the better tanks, or whether the attackers could break the defender's lines with what amounted to tank-based artillery before engaging. No engaging strategy, no compelling action, just shooting at targets where they sat.

Regardless, I had a strategy that I felt had at least even odds of working against stuff like B1s or SOMUAs. Anything heavier and the match changed drastically. I wasn't quite sure what they could field that was heavier while keeping with a French theme, but there was probably something out there that could catch me by surprise.

All that was left for me to do was print out the strategy and hand it in to Kay come Sensha-do practice tomorrow… actually, at a much more reasonable hour today. How did I let the time get so far away from me?


	34. Chapter 33

**Hell On Tracks  
****Part 33**

I wasn't quite sure what I was expecting for how our team would be meeting Maginot's. When we'd played Maple, their school ship had docked at Nagasaki next to Saunders, and they offloaded from there. Smaller transports had been used when Saunders was off the Columbia, but that was special circumstances in a location where there simply wasn't space to dock the school ship.

What I definitely wasn't expecting was to bring our tanks to the Saunders airfield and load them onto a pair of massive cargo jets. Kay was working with the loadmasters of the two jets to coordinate the loading of the tanks, and Naomi was directing who would go where. Arisa and I, meanwhile, were sitting atop the M6's turret, waiting or the heavy tank's turn to be loaded.

"So, why are we flying there?" I asked. "I mean, I get the logistical flexibility of using planes to transport tanks all the way across Japan in a hurry if needed, but this isn't all the way across Japan."

"It's farther, actually. We're currently out in the open ocean, beyond Japanese national waters." Arisa answered.

"Okay, but why? We were in Nagasaki a few days ago, wouldn't it have been quicker to just sail to wherever it is that Maginot's school is based?"

"Two reasons." Hannah interjected from the engine deck. "The match was scheduled fairly last minute, which probably means that Maginot is in port and is looking for a practice match. We, however, did not give Saunders enough time to plot a course before we put out to sea. Tacked onto that, the naval studies students usually need at least a week out at sea between port calls. There can be exceptions, but a last minute Sensha-do fight isn't one of them."

"I see…" I said, drawing the word out slightly. The school ship system was weird at times. Cool, and the fact that this was an eight mile long ship that somehow managed to pull thirty knots without excess pollution was simply awe inspiring, but it was nonetheless weird.

"We had to modify the Super Galaxies when the Airlift Division became independent, so that they could be used for hauling tanks across the country, or when we were out at sea. Five Shermans will fit into one of these with enough spare weight that we can take heavier tanks like the M6 without having to stretch our equipment." Arisa said proudly. "And I'm one of the pilots!"

"Nice!" I said, giving her a thumbs up.

"Looks like we're up." Hannah commented. Naomi was directing us over to the jet Kay was currently working with, and the heavy tank was one of the last planes to actually load from the front. At least loading and unloading the tanks was as simple a matter as drive in, then drive out when we arrive at our destination. I'd seen videos of dropping tanks from still flying planes, and it did not look like a fun experience.

Everyone demounted the tank except for the driver, and we dropped our changes of clothes and other necessary supplies into the much smaller passenger cargo bay (as opposed to the main cargo bay where the tanks were stored). Arisa jogged off to the cockpit of the plane to get working on her pre-flight checks, while Hannah and I climbed up into the passenger section, where there were about eighty seats for the twenty-five or so people who would be taking the flight to Japan.

* * *

Night had fallen when the two jets landed on Maginot's school ship. They had provided us with beds, excellent food, and a place to store our tanks for the night, which the team graciously accepted. I slept surprisingly well for being in a completely unfamiliar place surrounded by a whole bunch of other girls in a gym.

When morning came around, we were greeted by another amazing meal, courtesy of Maginot's culinary arts classes. I sent a text to Rach to let her know about the upcoming match. With the Saunders team flying in, the match was going to be livestreamed, and Rach might be able to watch if timezones work out properly.

The team warmed up for the day's match over at Maginot's training field, alongside some of the more enthusiastic Maginot Sensha-do girls. It was interesting to see the fire-and-maneuver practice competition between a Sherman and an S35, especially since the Somua managed to outscore the Sherman in accuracy.

As the M6's crew was taking a short break to resupply ammo, I wandered over to Maginot's garage. A couple of their tanks were set up outside of it, and I wanted a closer look. I recognized the Somua S35 and the B1 right away, and had a fair idea of their capabilities. The B1 was tough and the 75mm howitzer could be a nasty surprise, while the S35 was surprisingly mobile and had a decent gun.

The tank I was really interested in was one of those dinky little French light tanks. I wasn't quite as familiar with the model as I would like to be, but I'm pretty sure that the extended barrel on its gun wasn't the production model.

"Do you like it?" An unfamiliar voice asked. I turned to face the arrival, who was the S35's blue haired commander. The blue hair caught me by surprise, but I brushed it off as individual styling and such. She pulled it off fairly well, too.

"It's probably one of the tanks I like most in your arsenal." I said with a shrug. "Big slow heavy tanks aren't near as fun as lights."

The S35's commander laughed. "If only. The R35s have a crew of two, and aren't all that fast. I'm Éclair."

"Tally." I responded, offering a hand. Éclair shook it.

"I take it you prefer mobile Sensha-do over Maginot's traditional defensive fighting?" Éclair asked.

I nodded. "No offense to you or your school's tradition, but defensive teams just aren't interesting to watch. I haven't played against one yet, but they always just seem to boil down to who has the better tanks, and whether or not the attacking team can break through the defensive line or get a proper encirclement."

Éclair smiled and nodded. "It's a tradition that we are trying to change. As you said, our tanks just aren't good enough to hold a solid defense against the more powerful opponents out there."

"Good luck with that change. Traditions can be incredibly stubborn, and I'm not sure your tanks are up for more mobile Sensha-do."

"_Non?_ Why do you say that?"

"The one woman turrets. I'm sure you know how overwhelming it can be to coordinate with others, load, and fire the gun. I did a little tank commanding, and it was hard enough for me to keep track of spotting and planning without worrying about the gun." I explained, gesturing up to the turret of the R35 next to me.

"I agree." Éclair smiled. "As someone knowledgeable in mobile Sensha-do, what would you do?"

"Frankly? Try to get tanks better suited for mobile fighting. I don't know what those tanks are in keeping to a French theme, but I would focus on replacing the slow light tanks, like this beauty." I tapped the R35's side. "Get something that can at least keep up with the Somua if you can."

"And strategy-wise?" Éclair asked. Her eyes were surprisingly intense all of a sudden, and I took a half-step back.

"Uh, stay mobile, and always make sure you have a way to disengage from an opponent. If you let yourself get backed into a corner, you're doing it wrong."

"That's it?" She looked disappointed at my admittedly vague answer.

"Mobile warfare requires adaptability and flexibility, because each opponent is going to be different, as will how you engage them." I continued. Over Éclair's shoulder, I could see Arisa waving at me from atop the M6. "Itwaslovelytalkingtoyoubutmyteamneedsmenow. Maybetalkafterthematch?"

The words streamed out of my mouth like .30 cal ammo from a co-ax, and I slipped away from Éclair before she could say anything. I fled towards Arisa and the M6, thankful for the distraction and excuse to disengage. Éclair was nice, but she had an intensity to her that was more than a little intimidating.

"Who was that?" Hannah asked as I clambered up the side of the M6.

"Said her name was Éclair. She was the Somua's commander from a little earlier." I answered as I slipped down into the hull. Moments later, Hannah was also in the tank.

"You didn't look all that great as you came back. Something happen?"

"She's intense. Asked me about mobile warfare, Sensha-do style, once I expressed an interest in the R35 to her. In a weird way."

"Aren't R35s notoriously slow for lights?" Hannah asked.

"I wouldn't know. I may have seen a few in matches somewhere, but their performance never stuck out to me as significant or impactful." I said with a shrug.

"You said she was Éclair?" Arisa asked, interrupting Hannah and my chat.

"Yeah. Why?" I answered.

"She's their new Sensha-do commander. Took command at the end of last school year."

Well, crud. "So you're saying that I just gave some tactical advice to the commander of the opposing team?"

"Not necessarily. Maginot is still known for their defensive strategies. Perhaps she was just asking because she prefers mobile fighting to static fighting." Hannah offered with a shrug.

"I'll let Kay know to keep an eye out. Tally, don't go talking with anyone else from Maginot until after the match." Arisa ordered.

"Yes, ma'am!"

* * *

The starting line for the match against Maginot was quiet, but tense. We were on dry land once again, up in the mountains at Maginot's training camp. Eight M4 Shermans, the Firefly, and the M6 versus a bunch of early war French tanks. You would think the match would be a breeze, where our clear technological superiority would win the day, but I was nervous.

I knew that we weren't going to be using the plans I had outlined and given to Kay, but I couldn't shake the feeling that we weren't prepared for Maginot. Éclair had been too enthusiastic about mobile fighting for it to not be part of their strategy, but it was more a matter of where and when. Would they still hunker up, or would they be mobile from the get-go?

Whatever the result, this had all the makings of an interesting match.


	35. Chapter 34

**Hell On Tracks  
****Part 34**

Basically every Sensha-do match starts off slow. The teams scout out the area, trying to find where the other team is advancing to, or digging in, and then they have to close the range, despite usually moving over pretty rough terrain. As a tank commander, this time often feels a lot shorter than it actually is, because the TC is always busy keeping a weather eye out, directing her tank, and coordinating with the other tanks in her team or platoon or whatever size group she is working with.

The assistant loader in a heavy tank gets no such benefit. Twenty minutes of slowness feels a lot longer when you're cramped behind the driver and don't have anything to do. Hannah's ready rack was full, and I didn't have anywhere else to put ammo besides my lap. The hatch was awkward to stick your head out of with the driver right there, and even more awkward to get back into quickly when the shells inevitably started flying.

So the first twenty minutes of the match had me scooted over, crammed behind Arisa's radio op, and listening over her shoulder to whatever was happening between the other platoons.

"I think I see them!" Someone reported. I didn't recognize her voice, nor know which platoon she was in, but contact was always nice.

"Confirmed! Looks like two B1s and a couple of smaller tanks around them. They're pretty well dug in at the top of the hill in grid square India-Five."

I wracked my mind to remember the map of the match, and how things would be labeled. India-Five was almost directly west of Maginot's starting point, in fairly open terrain. Hard to assault, but once you closed the range that became less of a problem. It would certainly be a lot harder to attack if Shermans weren't leagues better than anything Maginot had.

"Copy that, third platoon." Kay said over comms. "All platoons converge on that location. First platoon from the northeast, Second from the northwest, and Third from the west."

She received an array of affirmatives, and then the radio went quiet. Arisa gave the order for us to roll out and support the advance, while staying back and mostly engaging with the three-inch at longer ranges.

"Hey Arisa?" I asked as I moved back to the AL's seat. The ride on an M6 wasn't awful, but sitting on a somewhat padded seat was a lot more comfortable than metal floor or standing hunched over.

"Yes?"

"Why are we keeping the M6 back? It's an annihilation battle, so wouldn't we be better off committing it to the assault on their hill?" I asked. In a match where the M6 was our flag, it might have made sense, but not in an annihilation match.

"Kay's orders. We're to stay in the back and counter any attempted breakout." Arisa answered. It wasn't an answer I liked, but one I could accept. Even if we weren't trying to leverage our technological advantage over Maginot, it still felt wrong to not use the breakthrough tank in an assault against a dug in position.

"Alright."

* * *

It didn't take very long for everyone to get to their positions and begin the assault on Maginot's bunker. The M6 had settled down near a cluster of trees, and we were taking the occasional potshot when the chance appeared. At this range, against a well entrenched opponent in cover, that wasn't as often an occurrence as you would expect. But, it meant that I wasn't particularly overwhelmed digging ammo out of the bins to pass to Hannah.

"Gunner, FT off the side of the lead B1." Arisa called out. Hannah loaded the shell into the three-inch, and I passed her the next shell for her ready rack as the gun fired. "Solid hit, target eliminated!"

Everyone in the tank cheered at the knockout. Getting any hits at this sort of range usually came down to luck more than skill, especially against a target as small as an FT. Arisa sat up, her head out of the commander's hatch, searching for more targets. From inside the tank, I couldn't see anything, but the continuous sound of 75mm guns firing gave me the impression that there was a lot of dust and dirt in the air, alongside AP shells and the occasional tracer.

The firefight carried on. The Shermans were still advancing on the hill, and the M6 was still sitting in the back, lobbing shells at targets as they came available.

"Gunner, B1 poking up over the ridge!" Arisa called out. At this point, she was more outside the tank than in, trying to spot targets through the smoke.

"Don't have eyes!" The gunner reported.

"What do you mean you don't have eyes?" Arisa demanded, dropping back down into the turret. "There's a clearly B1 shaped lump out there, can't see it?"

"No, I can't."

"What do you mean you can't see it?! It's right there!" Arisa demanded once more.

Before the conversation/argument could go any further, a shell slammed into the M6's flank. It wasn't enough to knock us out, as evidenced by the power remaining on, but it still shook us around.

"Uwah!" Arisa screamed as she frantically looked around for whatever had shot us. The turret swiveled off to the right, towards the trees, and I had to pull back my arm before someone stepped on it as they turned with the tank. Darned basketless turrets. At least I could keep Hannah stocked at this angle.

I vaguely heard Kay call a ceasefire though the main radio, but I was much more concerned with the tank's movement. We were moving again, headed into the trees to hunt down whatever had shot us. That was about all I knew or could reasonably guess from this perspective.

Arisa was frantically giving orders to fire the guns, despite there not being any visible targets (at least as far as I could tell). The radio op complied, firing the bow-mounted fifty cals, and I could hear the much less impressive boom of the co-ax 37mm firing from up top.

Kay was speaking into the radio, but I couldn't make out what she was saying over the pounding of the fifties, the 37, and Arisa's panicked screaming. I had the feeling that nobody else in the tank could hear what Kay was saying either.

"Arisa! Arisa!" Kay called. I looked around frantically, but Arisa wasn't paying attention. Her head was out the hatch, searching for something. This wasn't good at all.

I crawled over to the half-seat behind the radio op and leaned over her shoulder to grab the mouthpiece. "Arisa is occupied for the moment. What's going on?"

"Tally? Maginot retreated under cover of smoke and disengaged. Where are you?" Kay said. She sounded almost disappointed, but at the same time very pleased.

"Currently galavanting off after an unknown that shot us in the flank." I answered dryly.

Kay swore. "Get Arisa's attention and get her on the radio."

"Aye, ma'am." I gave a mock salute despite being in a completely different tank and set the radio mouthpiece down, tapping the radio op on the shoulder as I moved back. She nodded at me thankfully.

Now to just grab Arisa's attention. Crud. Of all the times to deal with panicky TCs who aren't me. Though, would clamming up and shutting down be any more useful than going into a bland panic and hunting the first target you find? At least we wouldn't be horribly out of position and chasing ghosts.

"Hey, Hannah!" I called, tapping at the primary loader's legs. It took a few solid whacks to get her attention away from the 37, but she eventually crouched down to look at me.

"What's up?"

"Kay wants Arisa on the radio, stat. We're being baited."

"That may take a little while." Hannah said, exasperated. "Arisa just needs time to calm down."

I wanted to swear. Unleash a stream of curses on Arisa that would make Dad proud and Mom ground me for a week. It was entirely unreasonable, given my own propensity to panic. What do I do?

Step One: get the problem under control. Either get Arisa to calm down, or make it so that her panicking is no longer a direct problem.

Step Two: Relay the necessary information. Tell a calm Arisa that Kay needs her attention, or tell whoever is currently in charge the same.

Step Three: Get Kay back on the radio with whoever is in charge. Go from there.

"How long does it take for her to calm down?" I asked Hannah.

"Anywhere from a few minutes to a lot longer. This may be a shorter burst, due to what caused it. If we find what shot us and take it out, that should be the end of things."

"Can we get someone else to take charge while she's calming down?" If Arisa wasn't going to calm down quickly enough on her own, option B was to get someone else in charge.

"None of us are TC qualified. I'm the closest, but I'm only a driver and a loader." Hannah answered. "Well, except you."

I breathed a heavy sigh. This had gone from bad to worse, and I'm pretty sure that mutinying Arisa would be against the spirit of my current punishment, especially during a match. This was going to suck, and probably bite me in the butt.

"Can you make sure the turret is pointing some direction that won't block my hatch or take off my head? I'm going up top." I asked, a plan forming in my mind. "You'll be out of an assistant loader for a bit, but I'd rather have a TC than a second loader right now."

"You got it!" Hannah said with a nod.

'Breathe in, hold for four seconds, breathe out, hold for four seconds. You can do this Tally. Handle the here and now first, let the future bring what it may.' I thought to myself, doing my breathing exercise real quickly. Then it was simply a matter of popping the hatch, climbing out onto the top of a still moving heavy tank, and then getting myself behind the turret to be at the least risk when things inevitably go wrong.

I shoved the hatch open, fighting against gravity. It opened hard, and I quickly pulled myself out. The turret was swung off to the right, and Arisa was facing the same way as the gun.

"What do you think is so great about you, anyways! Your tanks are worthless! Lost the war in weeks, before it even began!" Arisa cried out to nobody. It was almost louder outside the tank than in, and Arisa was screaming over all of it.

"Arisa!" I shouted over the sounds of the tank. Either she didn't hear me, or wasn't paying any attention. "Kay needs you on the radio, now!"

No response, so I moved onto step 1-A of my plan, which was to get her to sit down while I commanded from outside the tank. It was a stupid plan. All of the armor plating and carbon protective lining didn't help at all when you were outside the tank.

I reached over to Arisa, and tapped her shoulder. She spun to face me, and I could clearly see the panic on her face. No time for words, I just motioned for her to sit down. Almost relieved, she slipped down into the turret, and going by the grunt that Hannah let out, nearly slammed into the poor loader on the way down.

"Hannah! TC's radio and intercom, please!" I called down, leaning as close to the turret as I could. The trusty loader passed the requested tools to me. First things first, intercom. "Due to a momentary lapse in judgement, I'll be taking temporary command of the M6 while Arisa calms down. Gun front, please, and driver, get us back to the rest of the team."

"Hai!" "Copy that!"

Okay, step one, complete. Step two, contact Kay. "Command, this is M6. I'm temporarily covering for Arisa. What's the situation?"

"Tally?" Kay asked, almost incredulous. I could almost hear her head shaking. "Regroup at H-6 with the rest of the team. Maginot retreated under smoke and managed to knock out a Sherman on their way out."

"Alright. We got baited by something small. Probably a light tank that was hidden in trees to ambush us from behind." I reported.

"Roger. Regroup, and we will deal with things then." Kay ordered.

I switched over to the intercom. "Driver, take us to H-6 for regrouping. Everyone else, keep a lookout for a sneaky light tank. We can shoot it if we see it, but we aren't going chasing after it again."

Breathe in, hold for four seconds, breathe out, hold for four seconds. Hopefully Arisa will calm down by the time we reach Kay, and she can take command back of her tank. I really don't want to have to try and fight a heavy tank.


	36. Chapter 35

**Hell On Tracks  
****Part 35**

Thankfully, nothing attacked us while I was riding on the back of the M6. Arisa ceased her ranting about our armor's superiority and other, unrelated things, and I handed command of the tank back over to her. I was about to swing myself back over the turret to get to the hatch when we came across the rendezvous point.

Four of the Shermans were stationed around the gathering of tanks as sentries, and the rest were getting minor repair work done on them by their crews. In the middle of the formation was Kay and Naomi, looking at a map and talking to each other in hushed tones that I couldn't hear over the rumble of the M6's massive radial engine. Arisa quickly climbed out of the tank and walked over to the rest of the leadership, beckoning me to follow.

I was hesitant, but followed along. This was probably massively out of my depth.

"Ah, there you are!" Kay said cheerfully as Arisa approached. She waved at me, too. "Tally, get over here!"

"Are you sure?" I asked, even as I joined the small leadership congregation.

"Of course! You made an amazingly detailed plan for the match, and you actually talked with Éclair before the match started." Kay answered. Naomi nodded along, approvingly.

"But you said-" I cut myself off. Complaints about the promise that they wouldn't rely on my plans could wait until after the match. "Alright."

"What's going on so far?" Arisa asked.

"Current scores is two FTs eliminated to one Sherman. Maginot retreated under cover of smoke, and managed to temporarily draw away multiple tanks from the assault with ineffective attacks on the flanks." Naomi explained.

"We suspect they're going to the high ground here at Echo-Six, almost directly north of where we are right now." Kay added, pointing out the location on the map.

I peered at the map, wishing we had a slightly more three dimensional one. Or that such a thing was reasonable to actually have in the first place. "I don't think Éclair would go there. When we talked, she was very enthusiastic about the concept of mobile warfare, and an entrenchment with only one back door to get out sounds counterintuitive to that."

"Mobile warfare, huh?" Arisa asked. "Single person turrets make that really hard on their TCs. A pincer and crossfire might break their coordination and net us some easy knockouts."

"Where would they go for mobile fighting? India-Five has some of the best terrain for that." Naomi commented.

"Terrain is a little rough over on the eastern ridge, here, about the nine/ten line." Kay pointed out. "Tally, what do you think?"

"Reacting and chasing them just gives the choice of battleground to Maginot. Can we try to bait them to somewhere more favorable to us? I think that's a patch of low ground here at Charlie-Eight." I pointed to the map. Arisa and Naomi nodded.

"But how do we bait them?" Arisa asked.

"Give them a juicy target that they can't afford to not chase down and knock out." Kay answered. "Say, the most dangerous gun on our team."

Naomi and I looked to Arisa, but interestingly Kay was actually looking at Naomi.

"The Firefly?" Arisa asked, confused.

"Yup!" Kay popped the 'P' enthusiastically. "M6 is just as dangerous, but would require getting up close or trying something crazy for Maginot to actually knock out. The Firefly doesn't have the same armor, but is still a very dangerous gun."

"So we use the Firefly to bait at least part of Maginot's forces to a patch of low ground, and then fire on them from an elevated position?" I asked.

"Assuming I don't knock them all out during the chase." Naomi boasted.

Kay laughed heartily, and slammed Naomi on the back in a move that might have been considered a pat if the Firefly's commander/gunner didn't rock forward with the impact. "Naomi, you go get ready, and start communicating the plan to the other TCs. I want your platoon acting as an escort, while my platoon will act as a shepherd to keep Maginot stuck in the chase. Arisa, Tally, I want to talk to you two in private real quick."

"Yes ma'am!" Naomi said, before pivoting and marching off to her tank. Almost as soon as she was gone, Kay turned to better face Arisa and I. I gulped audibly, noticing how the cheer had slipped away from her face.

"Arisa, after we get back to Saunders, you and I are going to have a nice long talk about your temper. Chasing after ghosts when you take a single hit that can't hurt your tank isn't a very good showing." Kay started. Arisa nodded rapidly.

Kay then turned to me, her smile brightening back up considerably. "Tally, good work on taking command when it was needed, and getting the M6 back to the team unharmed. I want you to listen in on the radio, and if you hear anything that gives you some insight the rest of the command team might not have, you tell Arisa. Right now, you may have the best read on Éclair, and I would really prefer to not lose because we didn't listen to your thoughts."

"You got it!" I said, giving a mock salute. With that, Kay let us get back to our tank.

* * *

The plan was fairly simple, beyond the basic concept we had worked out. The M6 and an escort were to set up an ambush on high ground, while Naomi and her own escort were the bait to draw Maginot in. The other two platoons of tanks were to act as basically herders, keeping Maginot's forces all clumped up and making sure they had no place to go but forward.

It also meant that, as the ambushing force, all there was for me to do was listen in on the radio as Kay had asked. Hannah's ready rack was full, and she had one in her lap, ready to load as soon as we made contact.

"This is Raider-North. Maginot line sighted heading south at point 368. Two B1s in the center, with two R39s and an FT in escort. No sign of the Somuas." The head of the northern platoon called out over the radio. She had the full strength platoon, while Kay was leading the lower strength one further south.

"Copy that, Raider. Damsel is moving to intercept." Naomi replied. The callsigns had been her idea. Raiders north and south, Damsel for the bait, and Cavalry for the M6 and escort. She'd watched one too many westerns recently.

A few long minutes passed. Finally, Naomi spoke up over the radio again. "Damsel is engaged. Scratch one R39."

"Good shot Naomi!" Kay cheered. "Once they notice you fall back heading west-southwest."

"West-southwest. Solid copy."

Still, we waited. Naomi reported that the visible force had taken her bait and were pursuing, but there was no sign of the Somuas, or their one invisible tank. Two FTs and an R39 were down, leaving the two B1s, one FT and one R39 in their escort, the two Somuas, and something that had tried to knock out the M6 earlier.

"Hey Arisa, does Maginot have any TDs?" I asked, turning around in the relatively cramped interior of the M6.

"Not as far as I'm aware. Only thing they might have with their theme is an SAu-40, but we haven't seen one at all." Arisa answered.

"Drat. There goes that idea for our mystery tank."

"Still thinking about the one that shot us?" Hannah asked.

"Yeah. It's the only real unknown." I answered, fidgeting to make myself more comfortable. Without even a seat behind the bow gunner/radio op, I was half laying on the floor just to make sure I didn't accidentally bump my head on anything.

"Raider North is coming under Somua attack! Two Somuas came at us from the northeast, roughly trailing along the B1s path!"

"Keep them engaged, Raiders!" Kay called over the radio to Raider North. "If you keep them distracted, they won't be able to help their heavies!"

"With all of the KO'd tanks, that makes nine…" I mused.

"Damsel to Cavalry and Raider-South. My escort is down, and the B1s are breaking north. All of their escorts have been eliminated." Naomi reported.

Arisa swore. "Cavalry is breaking cover and moving to assist!"

Location information was exchanged, and our two tank platoon rumbled forward to chase after the equally slow, but much less dangerous opponents. I moved back to my much more comfortable - but less optimally located for radio listening - seat, and prepared for the inevitable engagement.

The chase was slower than I would like. Even keeping tabs on everything through the radio, I couldn't help but feel like the M6 was useless in this situation. It was barely faster than the B1s, and a lot slower than the Shermans or Somuas engaged in skirmishing further ahead. That feeling was further exacerbated when our escorting M4 dashed on ahead to join Naomi in directly harassing the retreating B1s.

* * *

It was no good. A lucky shot from one of the B1s stopped Naomi with a busted track, and they managed to slip away through the scattered formation of Raider-North's platoon. The scattered platoon regrouped and chased Maginot's forces. If they could keep eyes on, and distract the TCs with fighting instead of coordinating, that would be a win in our books.

Meanwhile, Kay left Naomi an escort while she repaired her tracks, and sent the rest of us on a roundabout path to intercept Maginot's forces. We roughly knew their course, barring any unexpected changes, and there was a good position to pincer them far enough ahead that the Shermans ought to be fast enough to get there first. The M6 was too slow to keep up, and we were relegated to getting there when we could, but in the meantime acting as a headquarters tank, relaying information while Kay and Raider-North fought their battles.

Naturally, as a solo tank, things went wrong for us. The first warning was a small caliber shell pinging off the M6's side armor maybe a foot from my head. It wasn't enough to hurt the tank, but it scared the living daylights out of me.

"Contact left! Ten o'clock!" Arisa called. I scrambled back into my seat as the tank swung into action, pulling a sharp turn and immediately firing the co-ax 37mm at the target. "Looks like an R39!"

Whatever it was, it was a brave little tank. Their commander was also either reckless, or didn't know just how outmatched her tank was by the lumbering behemoth that was the M6.

The three-inch fired, and I quickly got to work putting a new round in the ready rack. I wanted to watch the light get knocked out, but as much as I disliked the role, loading the gun was an important job.

Another round bounced off the M6's armor, but this one didn't even faze me. The three-inch roared again, and this time instead of basically not hearing the impact of the AP shell in the dirt, there was a large explosion. That was an HE round! As I scrambled to find the HE round storage (it was on the other side of the tank), the 37mm fired once more.

"Target eliminated! Good work everyone!" Arisa called out. I didn't pause in digging out the unwieldy three-inch HE round and loading it into the one slot in the ready rack reserved for HE, but at least the fight was over.

"Only four tanks left?" I asked, more to myself than anyone else.

"Sounds like." Arisa answered. "Let's get moving towards the ambush point again! Show Maginot the power of a real heavy tank!"

Everyone in the tank cheered, and we were off once again.


	37. Chapter 36

**Hell On Tracks  
****Part 36**

From the sound of things over the radio, Kay was fighting her part of the match incredibly well. She was coordinating all of the remaining tanks that weren't the M6 or Naomi's Firefly, and having them conduct an ever shrinking encirclement with only one way out. Directly towards the M6 and newly repaired Firefly.

For all of the famed durability of the S35 and B1, the only reason they had yet to be knocked out was that the Shermans were moving to keep the encirclement herding them towards us. Landing a solid hit against a target on the move was difficult for any tank, regardless of whether or not they had a stabilizer.

"Thirty seconds!" Arisa called out. We were on a ridge with a good view of the surrounding area. Naomi's Firefly was on a different, and somewhat lower ridge off to our right. Perfect position to hammer any incoming enemy forces if they were distracted by the rest of our team. Not the most camouflaged or well protected of positions, but they were plenty good temporary firing positions.

The first sign of contact was not tanks cresting the ridge, but rather a stream of machine gun tracers from off to one side, going skywards. Then came a shell arcing well overhead from directly in front of us, and finally, the lead Somua crested the ridgeline. Saunders' two biggest cannons fired, and missed. Our shot was low, while Naomi's was just off to the left of the Somua, impacting the dirt on the ridge.

Three more early war French tanks crested the ridge and made for the low ground and a valley between us and the Firefly. Kay's forces were right behind them, coming over the ridge in a wave of green painted American armor. Her three Shermans fired on the move, bracketing the fleeing tanks, but not doing any damage.

"Target the heavies!" Arisa ordered, and the main gun fired again. A moment later, a shell impacted the ridge just in front of us, rocking the tank less than the recoil of the main gun did.

Another shell hit in roughly the same place, and we were suddenly moving forward. The driver slammed the M6 into reverse, trying to get us back into our firing position, but it was too late.

"Brace!" The driver called, as the M6 lurched forward and down. I barely managed to avoid hitting my head against an ammo rack, and suddenly realized why Hannah wears a helmet inside the tank. Gravity was working against us, and even in full reverse, the tank wasn't moving. So our driver gunned the engine. The heavy tank's massive radial roared, and we rapidly picked up speed, charging in for a brawl.

Even stuck inside the M6, I could feel the speed we were putting on. A perfectly maintained engine at full power, with a steep slope to help us gain speed, but not steep enough or slick enough for us to potentially lose control. It was exhilarating, and I didn't even bother to wipe the grin off my face.

"Focus fire on the Somuas!" I called, barely keeping from laughing like a maniac. I probably would be doing so if I were in command of the tank right now. "They can escape, the B1s can't!"

"You heard her!" Arisa shouted, and quickly began relaying that to the rest of the team.

A shell impacted the front plate of the M6, and did no appreciable damage. We didn't stop, we barely slowed, and we were bearing down on the Maginot formation.

"Driver! Ramming speed! Hit that B1!" Arisa ordered. I gulped, and picked up the pace of my work. Ramming was never fun for the crew of either tank. At least, that's what I had observed watching the pro leagues back home.

The radio op was hammering away with her bow-mounted fifty cal machine guns, the 37 and three-inch were firing, and we were going a fair bit faster than the M6 was designed to handle. I hastily passed another shell directly to Hannah, and then dug out the safety belts for the assistant loader's seat.

"Brace!" The driver called again, just as I was latching the final belt. Without time to better secure myself, all I could do was grab onto the belts and pray they held.

What do you get when a 58 ton machine impacts the side of a machine half of its weight at a speed I would guess was over thirty miles an hour? Whiplash. The M6 came to a very sudden halt as it slammed into the B1, and I was very nearly thrown forward. It could have been very bad if not for the safety belt, but it held, and I only got a minor headache from my head being thrown forward while my body stayed secure.

The B1 was not as lucky with the impact as the M6 was. I had to assume we struck the side of its engine compartment, because it went flying away from us. Not enough to roll it, but enough that we had a good shot straight into its side at point blank. It only took one shot, and then we were rapidly changing target to the nearest Somua.

I slipped off the safety belts, and got back to work. Between the ram shaking me up, and having to focus on passing ammo to Hannah as fast as I could, I lost track of the details of the end of the match. Shells were bouncing off the M6's armor, we were firing back, and it was chaos.

In that chaos, one of Maginot's last tanks, perhaps their very last one, managed to get up right beside the M6, and fire directly into the relatively weak side armor at point blank. Main power cut off, the engine stopped, and the gun automatically jammed itself.

We were knocked out. There wasn't much opportunity to react to the elimination, because mere moments later the judges came over the radio, calling out that the final tank of Maginot had been knocked out. Saunders had won!

Slowly, everyone began piling out of the M6. I was first out the hull hatch on the left, but Arisa and Hannah beat me out by way of the turret. A Somua was literally right next to the M6, with maybe two feet from our left flank. A little further away, and behind us, one of the B1s was flipped onto its side, with a smoking dent in their flank armor. The rest of Maginot's remaining tanks were scattered around the low ground, white flags waving in the wind.

* * *

Kay called a leadership meeting as everyone with a still mobile tank was leaving the field, and rides were being acquired for those who didn't have a mobile vehicle. For some reason, she decided to include me in the meeting once more. So myself, Kay, Naomi, and Arisa were all jammed into the back of the spare Willys Jeep that we'd brought along, with Hannah driving.

"Good work, everyone!" Kay said cheerfully. "Very nicely done!"

Naomi smirked and Arisa preened under the praise, while I just sort of sat there awkwardly.

"You too, Tally! Your plans and analysis of Maginot's team really helped!" Kay gave me a big thumbs up. It did nothing to help my awkwardness. "Okay, okay, time for our post-match review! Arisa, go ahead!"

"Uwah!" Arisa squealed, not ready to be put on the spotlight. "Maginot's mobility caught everyone by surprise. Sneaky tactics trying to bait tanks away from our encirclement helped disrupt our initial attack, and their retreat under smoke was well coordinated. However, as soon as we figured out what was going on, we managed to stay one step ahead of them, cutting them off and countering their attacks. Eight points for team adaptability!"

Naomi stepped up to the plate next. "In every engagement, Maginot lost more forces than we did. The superiority of our armor meant we could attrite their forces, and they had to trade two or three tanks to every one of ours. A good strategy for us in an annihilation battle, but risky in a traditional flag match. Seven points for gunnery!"

"Okay, okay." Kay said with her usual big grin. "Our biggest strength in the match was our tanks being better than theirs. However, we did not purely rely on our guns and armor to win the match. Tactics, teamwork, and high levels of coordination kept every tank involved in the match. Eight points for teamwork! Tally, you're up!"

I blinked, not sure what exactly was being asked of me. Kay seemed to realize this, probably due to the blank look on my face.

"We look over our experiences in the match, give an explanation for one area we think we either did really well or very poorly in, and then give a rating on a scale of one to ten!" Kay explained.

"Ah." I ah'd, thinking about the match for a moment. Where had Saunders done incredibly well? "Except when we were planning or setting up the anvils for a hammer to pin Maginot's forces against, we never stopped moving. They simply didn't have an opportunity to rest and conduct any repairs once contact was established, and in every running engagement, we controlled where they were going. So, nine points for mobility?"

Arisa looked apprehensive at my explanation and points. The other two looked more encouraging but the apprehension on Arisa's face made me feel even more awkward.

"Eight points for mobility?" I said hesitantly. Maybe I just didn't understand the scale. Hopefully that was it.

"No need to adjust your points, Tally!" Kay said with a smile. "If you think we did really well in staying mobile, then that's what you think! Does anyone have individual accolades?"

Naomi immediately spoke up. "The crew of tank two of platoon three. They were exceptional gunners, and kept their tank exactly where it needed to be to capitalize on the rest of the team's maneuvering. They're credited with one FT, and one Somua for the match."

"Very nice!" Kay gave a thumbs up. Arisa and I nodded along. "Anyone else? No? Well, I would like to offer accolades to Tally. Both for taking the initiative to get the M6 back to the team when control had been disrupted, and for helping in the general planning and coordination of the overall match. Those are all very good qualities for a new and inexperienced TC!"

I… I didn't know what to say. Arisa and Naomi were applauding politely, and Kay was giving me a big smile that probably would have evolved into a semi-tackle hug if we weren't on opposite sides of the jeep. It was one thing to be invited to the officer's post-match debriefing, it was another to receive direct praise from the commander at said meeting.

"T-thank you!" I said, managing to only stutter once. I desperately searched for more words to say to properly express how shocked and thankful and just generally happy I was to get such a compliment, but no more words came.

"Keep up the good work, Tally!" Kay's smile was blindingly bright and incredibly infectious. I wiped a few tears off my face, but my own smile stayed put. Naomi patted my back.

Accolades for doing well in Tankery! That wasn't something I ever expected to get, but that wasn't going to stop me from accepting the compliment. And I got it for being on the ball instead of curling up in panic at the first real hardship or when people were relying specifically on me!

I guess all that nonsense about Sensha-do making you a better woman wasn't as nonsense as it sounded! Haha, tankery!

* * *

The destination for the command team was Maginot's garage. Éclair was already there, along with her XO. She looked a lot better than when she had originally hauled herself out of the Somua that had KO'd the M6. While she still looked worn out, she wasn't dead tired and clutching her stomach as if she was about to hurl.

"Hiya, Éclair!" Kay called, as the Jeep came to a halt.

"Hello, Kay." Eclair replied.

The leadership team got off of the Jeep and walked over to Éclair and her XO. Éclair promptly embraced Kay and gave her three rapidfire kisses to the cheeks. I froze in my seat, jealousy rising up through my chest.

Kay laughed the kisses off. "Good game! You did really well!"

"_Merci_. It was an excellent match, and the Saint-Cyr style can learn a lot from it." Éclair said with a smile. Being so used to the usual, if somewhat odd mix of Japanese and English that was pervasive at Saunders, the random French insert was enough to throw me for a loop, breaking me out of my jealousy driven freeze.

Really, I shouldn't have frozen at all. Kay was just my friend, and team captain. Nothing more. And Éclair was just being weirdly French for a Japanese school girl. Though, when you consider how shockingly stereotypically American Saunders' students and staff act, maybe she wasn't being _weirdly_ French, just a normal amount for someone who lives on a French-themed school ship.

It was still weird, both my pang of jealousy and Éclair acting French. School ships in general were pretty weird now that I think about it. Like, in concept they're awesome, but in execution, the national themes of each school are more than a little odd in how far they're taken to the extreme.

"Hey, Tally!" Kay called, interrupting my wandering thoughts. "Éclair said that you promised to talk with her after the match!"

I put on my best smile and hopped out of the Jeep. "I did promise that, didn't I. Hello, Éclair."

"Ohaio, Tally-san. You had some interesting insights into mobile combat, and I was wondering if you might have some more input now that we aren't about to face each other." Éclair said, offering me a hand. I shook it, but pulled back before she could leverage that arm into a hug or rapid kisses like Kay had received.

"Well, I thought you did really well keeping mobile during the match…" I began.


	38. Chapter 37

**Hell On Tracks  
****Part 37**

My phone rang at an insane hour Friday morning. As in, the sun was only casting its very first early rays of light over the vast oceanic horizon. It woke me up from a pleasant dream of a Sensha-do league completely made up of light tanks and tankettes, with Stuarts and Locusts competing against Panzer II's and CV33s, and a whole bunch of other sorts of lights. It was fun, and the Stuarts were, for once, not completely undergunned.

Groggily, I tried to decline the phone call and roll back over, but must have accidentally answered it instead, because Rach's loud voice immediately snapped me into wakefulness. "Tally! I watched your match last night, and it was freaking awesome!"

"Bwah?" I fumbled my cell phone, and nearly dropped it before bringing it to my ear. "Rach, do you know what time it is?"

"Three thirty. Why?"

I rolled over and looked at my alarm clock. Five thirty in the morning. Give or take an hour depending on where exactly the school was located. "It's five thirty here. In the morning."

"Oh crud. I'm so sorry Tally!" Despite knowing I was more asleep than awake, Rach didn't let her volume go down in the slightest. Which meant that she was currently at Loud, on her scale from Loud to Jet Engine.

"Well, I'm awake now." I grumbled, sitting up in bed and rubbing my face with my free hand. "What do you want?"

"I watched your match last night, and I wanted to congratulate you on the win!" Rach cheered directly into my ear. I pulled it away from my ear entirely and set it to speakerphone at a lowered volume.

"Thanks Rach. Kay asked me to draft a plan for the match, which we didn't end up using at first, but then we used bits and pieces when Maginot didn't stay hunkered down."

"You didn't mention it before the match, but which tank was yours?"

"I wasn't in command of anything. I was the assistant loader on the M6."

"How the heck did they get you in a heavy tank? You hate the things!"

"There was some drama with my Sherman's crew, and we're all on punishment duty of sorts. I'm not quite sure what they're doing, but I got stuck with one of the XOs, and we got shoved into the M6 as the only six person tank in Saunders' arsenal."

"Ouch. Was this the same drama that had you calling me last weekend?"

"Yeah."

"I told you to get a new tank crew, but that wasn't what I meant!"

"Oh, I know. It's punishment duty, but heavy tanks are just awful. The M6 is a pretty bad offender, being slow, big as a barn, and with an absolutely awful turret setup." I complained.

"How bad is it? I've never been in an M6 except for when we were unpacking your stuff." Rach asked.

"Half-basket turret, entirely for the gunner. TC and loader are on the same side, and while the TC has a seat, loader doesn't get anything. Assistant loader is a cramped position, because I have to watch out for the rotation of the turret as well as maneuver three-inch ammo from side-mounted racks to the ready rack or directly to the loader."

There was a moment of pause as Rach tried to visualize the interior of the tank. "Do you get rocked around with every hit you take?"

"Every single one."

"That's gotta suck. But you'll be getting your tank back when your punishment period is over, right?"

"Hopefully. Though we don't have a spare crew beyond the Bandits, so I may be stuck with them."

I could hear Rach frown over the phone. That was just how she was when she paused like this. "So your current options are assistant loader in a heavy tank, or commanding a medium with a bad crew?"

"Yeah. No light tank or Hellcat on the docket unless something changes radically."

"It's definitely a sucky position to be in." Rach said with the tone of voice that meant she was giving an agreeable nod. "How has the rest of school been treating you?"

"Pretty well. I've made a few friends who I usually eat lunch with, Jane and April. They're weird, but not in a bad way." I answered, thankful for the change in topic.

"Weird?"

"Jane claims to be able to talk to the spirits of vehicles, ranging from individual cars and tanks to the school ship itself. It's a bunch of malarkey, but she's a really nice girl. April is usually quiet, but she always brings snacks for everyone. Stuff she made in home ec."

"How does April qualify as weird, then? Sharing home ec food just sounds like a regular tactic to get rid of food you can't eat. Sally does it all the time."

"You don't understand. This isn't the usual couple of cookies, or maybe a half dozen muffins. The other day, she brought a plate of muffins stacked, oh, yea high." I made a gesture to show a stack about as tall as an iPad is long, and then immediately realized that Rach couldn't see me over the phone.

"Color me impressed." Rach commented.

"I ate exactly two of them. They were delicious, and I had to look away and eat a salad to make sure I didn't break down and eat the whole stack."

"Typical Tally. You always force yourself to eat super healthily. Eat some carbs, get some meat on those bones!" Rach teased.

"I'm sorry that my svelte figure is too much for you to handle, Miss Devourer of Cookies."

"Ha! Svelte my butt!"

"Do you know how much flexibility it takes to maneuver around in the M6 and pass ammo around? Without bumping into people at all, it takes a lot."

Rach and I talked for a little while longer, bickering and teasing each other, as well as just discussing how our lives were going. My grumpiness at being woken up at a godawful hour of the morning faded with Rach's high energy enthusiasm and loud voice. Eventually, someone grabbed her for something else entirely, we said our goodbyes, and hung up. The match against Maginot had completely slipped our minds.

* * *

It was amazing how life moved on. Despite the amazing event of the Maginot match and the fact that the leadership was somehow qualified to fly Super Galaxies that could each carry half of the team, everything just resumed as normal. I worked out with Hannah in the mornings, dealt with morning classes, had lunch with Jane and April, and went to Sensha-do practice after my afternoon classes.

The weekend was slightly more rowdy than usual, mostly due to someone hosting a video game tournament of some sort in the various common rooms of my dorm building. Nothing that interested me, but the excess noise was frustrating when I was trying to focus on homework, or reading the manga that Auntie Natasha had sent me. It was a cute slice-of-life manga that had been going on for a surprising amount of time, and while Auntie Nat only sent me the first few chapters, finding the rest at the library or online should be quite easy.

Kay came around to my dorm room Sunday afternoon, and hauled me out to hang out over at the Sensha-do garage. Apparently Arisa's intelligence gathering operations included keeping an eye on her teammates, and she had figured out that I had only left my dorm room for meals, and thus required someone to force me to be social. Nevermind the fact that I had missed two days worth of doing homework thanks to the Maginot trip and was behind on work, and that I had taken extra long lunches to spend more time with Jane and April.

"So, where are we going?" I asked Kay. For once, we weren't driving anywhere, and were instead enjoying the sunshiny day out at sea, walking to our destination.

"One of the other clubs has asked for a show of support from a bunch of clubs, Tankery included, and this is part of how we're going. They're holding an exhibition and bazaar at the campus commons." Kay explained with a smile.

"And which club would that be?"

"Sewing! They do clothes, quilts, dolls, and various decorative bits of cloth. I got a very warm Tankery-themed quilt from them last year, and have been supporting them ever since!"

"That feels really odd compared to Sensha-do and the Airlift Division." I commented.

"What? Do I come off as someone who only does hyper-amazing super weird and not at all normal activities for a regular highschool girl?" Kay almost looked offended, but quickly broke down into poorly-suppressed giggles.

"You command a Sensha-do team and can fly a Super Galaxy. At what, seventeen?"

Kay waved me down before I could get too worked up over nothing. "Okay, okay. Those are rather impressive achievements. They still don't mean I can't enjoy things that your grandma would consider 'normal.'"

I scoffed at that. "My grandma is weird. My dad has plenty of stories about her, not all of them positively spun, but all of them very entertaining."

We both paused, and broke down in laughter. This conversation had gotten weird.

"C'mon, we're almost there!" Kay said as soon as we were able to fit proper breaths between laughing fits. I nodded, and followed her lead to the commons.

Lo and behold, there was a sewing club bazaar in full swing. Dozens of stalls were strewn around the area in neat rows and around the edges, girls hawking their wares to people who were interested in this particular blanket, or that certain coat. It was bright, covered in all sorts of colors, and surprisingly loud for an outdoor event.

Kay and I joined the crowd of people browsing wares, and we got separated almost immediately. She ducked into a stall, and someone cut me off before I could turn and follow her. But I guess that was okay if the intent of Kay pulling me away from my homework and mangas was to get me outside.

I moved with the crowd, browsing the assorted wares. It was amazing what these girls had made. One of them was selling a quilted blanket with an absolutely beautiful rose-styled pattern in the middle, but when I went to inspect it closer, I saw that the price was completely outside what I would want to spend on such a thing. Probably well priced for the quality and time put into it, but hideously expensive for a casual shopper.

My wanderings took me through a few of the stalls, examining but never committing to a purchase due to exorberent price tags. Were all of these so well made that they were super expensive? Probably, considering who they were and what they were selling, but still!

A familiar mop of reddish-brown hair drew me towards one of the stalls peddling stuffed animals.

"April? You're part of Sewing Club?" I asked my lunch partner, who was standing behind the table proudly displaying stuffed bears.

"You didn't know?" April answered. "Ara ara~"

"Okay, I never asked. And on second thought it seems right up your alley. Baking mass amounts of sweets, sewing stuffed bears, what's next, you're a surprisingly good shot with a rifle and tank gun?" I asked sarcastically.

"I am actually pretty good with a rifle." April admitted. It made me pause for a moment. "Though I've never shot a tank gun before. Is that an offer to come and try?"

"Ah, um, maybe some other time? I don't actually have a tank of my own to let you try shooting, and I doubt the others would be cool with just letting you come and shooting in someone else's tank…"

"Okay! Now, are you interested in any of my products?" April gestured down to her display. It was a whole bunch of stuffed teddy bears, all masterfully sewn and stuffed. The plain brown ones were quickly passed over as I looked at the more interesting ones. Polka dots and patterns galore, in basic cloth or a fuzzier exterior. These too were passed over as I settled on the most interesting bear on the stand.

I picked up the heavily bandaged bear and inspected it a bit closer. The bandages looked like they were added on top of the regular fabric instead of built in, though I could tell they had been sewn on.

"A good choice! Are you a Boko fan?" April asked.

"Boko?" The name confused me.

"It's a series of stuffed bears and other memorabilia like the one you're holding. He was very popular around five years ago, but interest died down in recent years."

"Ah, I see. Might have to look into that. How much?" I asked.

"Since you're a friend, 500 yen."

"Five hundred?" I asked, bewildered. How could she possibly charge that much for a stuffed bear? It was absurd!

"Five hundred _yen_." April emphasized.

"... how much is that in dollars?" I asked, more than a little embarrassed.

"If the conversion is still steady, about five dollars."

I facepalmed. "I am such an idiot. Thank you, April. Yes, I'll take the Boko bear for five dollars. Now I need to go see about some other items that I thought were ridiculously overpriced."

Money exchanged hands, and Boko was stuffed into my purse before I went to look at the items I had liked but didn't want to buy. A hundred to one conversion ratio made those much more affordable. Now if only I didn't feel like such an idiot for not realizing sooner.


	39. Chapter 38

**Hell On Tracks  
****Part 38**

"There you are, Tally!" Kay said cheerfully, walking up to the stand I was perusing.

"Ah, one moment, Kay. Which one is better?" I pivoted without missing a beat, holding up two different quilted hotpads. One had a nice pattern of squares and triangles somewhat shaped like a teapot, while the other had a floral piece right in the middle.

Kay considered the hotpads a moment. "Floral."

"Alright, thank you." I said with a smile, before turning back to the girl manning the stand and paying for the floral hotpad. As soon as I was done and carefully stuffed the purchase into my bag, Kay dragged me out of the immediate crowd.

"Don't just wander off like that!" Kay reprimanded me. She wasn't angry, or even upset, but it was still clearly a reprimand.

"Sorry." My face fell slightly. "I tried to follow you, but the crowd just sort of blocked me off and I just sort of went with the flow."

"It's fine. I said we were coming out to support the sewing club, and it looks like you did just that." Kay nodded to my side, where I had a bag with a warm-looking quilted comforter and two hotpads. The Boko bear was still stuffed into my purse, and would remain there until I returned to my dorm.

"So, did you find anything that you liked?" I asked after a moment of silence between the two of us.

"There was this cute little brown dress that stuck out to me. It didn't fit me, but the girl running the stand said that I should come find her after the bazaar had cleared out and she would size it for me." Kay said enthusiastically. She pulled her phone out of her tankery coat's pocket and showed me a picture of the dress. She was right, it was cute. Just the right mix of simplicity and detail to really stand out.

"I can't wait to see you wear it! It'll look great on you." I said with a smile. Kay smiled right back at me.

Kay put her phone away, and led me back to the bazaar. We hung out at the bazaar for at least an hour, perusing the stalls, looking at the wonderful works of art that the sewing club had made with their thread and needles, and most importantly, just chatting and having a good time. Neither of us bought anything more, but Kay had her dress, and I had my blanket and gifts for aunties Sophie and Nat, and the Boko bear that Kay or anyone else was to never learn about.

Eventually, things started dying down at the bazaar, and Kay had to go meet with that one girl for fitting her new dress.

"Did you have fun?" Kay asked, just before we parted ways.

"I did! It was nice to get out of my dorm and spend some time with a friend. We should do this again sometime!" I answered cheerfully, a big smile on my face.

"I don't think there is going to be another bazaar like this until the end of the semester…" Kay mused at my suggestion.

"Well, it doesn't have to exactly be this. But going to club events that aren't Sensha-do, hanging out, and just generally having a good time."

"Ah, okay! Sounds like a plan!" Kay gave me a big thumbs up. "Later!"

"See you later, Kay!" I said, and waved her off. We went our separate ways, with her off to get fitted, and me to take my haul back to my dorm. The sun was starting to set, but the day was still incredibly pretty, and I didn't rush back home.

When I was about halfway to my dorm I realized that I had just inadvertently asked Kay out on a date, and had to take a moment on a convenient bench to calm my panicking mind. It was just going to be friendly dates. Two friends, going out to whatever event, and having a good time. There was certainly going to be no romance involved. We were just friends.

* * *

The week started out sooooo slow. With the National Tournament placement lottery on Friday and live matches starting as soon as next Monday, training and practice kicked into high gear. The usual pre-practice maintenance checkover shrank into being a quick track tensioning and test of the turret, gun elevation, and ability to go forwards and backwards, and was replaced by more drills.

Firing drills went from tedious to boring. All I ever did during them was keep Hannah supplied so that she could keep the gun filled. I dug through racks, grabbed ammo, and either put it in the ready rack or passed it directly to Hannah. It was certainly an important job, but when that was all you were doing for what certainly felt like hours on end, multiple days of practice in a row, it sucked away your will to do things.

I didn't even get to watch Arisa do TC things, because gunnery drills didn't need her. All of the TCs were off doing paper assignments with the Chieftain, probably learning the main types of tanks we would face and how to position their tanks to be the most efficient with their armor. Things that a TC would generally want to know. And I was stuck doing mind bogglingly boring firing drills as the assistant loader in a heavy tank that I grew to dislike more and more every day.

The only respite of my boredom at Tankery was after class, hanging out with Lina and the other mechanics. It was still a lot of working with my hands, but fixing a busted track was a lot more attention holding than passing ammo.

"Pass me that socket wrench, will you?" Lina asked, briefly interrupting my efforts to hammer the connector pins into the last few links of this particular M4's tracks. She was on a roller underneath the M4, working on the back side of one of the bogies.

"Yeah, one second." I answered. I sighed and let the tracks droop and hang on the return rollers. The wrench was on a workbench that was probably in arm's reach of a slightly taller or lankier person than me, but grabbing it was basically a non-issue.

Lina didn't immediately go back to her work as soon as I handed her the wrench. "You okay, Tally? You're very enthusiastic in your hammering. It's giving me a bit of a headache."

"Oh, sorry." I apologized, immediately trying to refocus on the track in front of me. "I've just been frustrated and bored."

"Getting fed up with your tank?"

"Pretty much. I have exactly one job in the M6, and it's about the only thing I can do in there."

"I can see how that would be boring for a ball of energy such as yourself." Lina deadpanned.

"I'm not a hyper little annoyance!" I pouted. The two track links once more sagged on their rollers, and I set my hammer down to better face Lina.

"Never said you were an annoyance, _chica_. Just that you're energetic and want to be involved in things." Lina countered.

"Okay, fair. But yeah, assistant loader in the M6 sucks. Can't do anything, seat's uncomfortable, whole area is cramped, and all you're doing is one mindless task over and over again." I grumbled.

"Only thing you can do right now is stick through it. You're back in a Sherman what, Friday?"

"Thursday. Kay cancelled Friday's practice because of the tournament placement lottery."

"So you have one more day before you're back having a direct impact on things. Don't lose hope just because you're currently bored out of your skull." Lina tapped at the side of her head, a cheeky grin forming on her face.

"Hello?" Someone called from the garage's main entrance. It took me a moment to put a name and face to the voice, but I quickly realized that it was Jane.

"Ah, great." Lina swore under her breath. "That weirdo is here again. Let me go shoo her off."

I sat there for a moment, blinking as Lina hauled herself completely out from under the tank. Why would Jane need driven off? Sure, she wasn't part of the Tankery team or mechanics, but the area was pretty open so long as there were members of the team present to supervise.

Curious, I got up and followed Lina through the rows of vehicles towards the entrance. Jane was standing respectfully just outside the wide open doors, her hands clasped together behind her back.

"Hello Tally!" Jane called as we approached.

Lina paused and gave me a look. "You know her?"

"Yeah. Jane's a friend." I answered with a nod.

"Of all the people…" Lina grumbled under her breath. "Alright. She's your problem, then. Just keep her away from where anyone is working."

"Alright." I waved Lina off and walked over to Jane. "So, what brings you to the Sensha-do garage?"

"I wanted to get a closer look at the tanks. They're always so nice when I get to see them in the parking areas at home games, but I never get to see them otherwise." Jane explained with a smile. Whether she was talking about the tanks themselves or whatever else it was that only she saw, I had no idea.

"So you want to see the tanks. Got it." I said, gesturing for her to come in. "Where do you want to start? The mechanics are working on some tanks that were damaged during the day's skirmish, but other than giving them room we can pretty much go anywhere."

"The M4s, please!" Jane said with an innocent smile. Perhaps she was just happy to finally have someone show her the tanks.

I gave Jane a quick tour of the garage, pointing out the different varieties of tanks. The M4s with and without loaders hatches (I have no idea why the hatch hasn't been cut into the ones without it; it's a completely legal mod), the M4A1s with the 75s and 76s, the various A3 models, and even the prized M4A6s. Jane really liked the A6s, and gave the fifth one in the row a comforting pat on the bumper.

The brief interruption of Jane's weirdness only slowed us down a little bit as I led her over to the Oddball Collection. Contrary to what I expected, it was the Stuarts that really grabbed Jane's attention. As soon as we approached, she lit up and cheerfully walked over to one of the two M5A1s. After I gave her permission, she climbed up onto the tank and sat on top of its front plate, patting it gently.

"She's restless." Jane stated, interrupting my move to lean against the Hellcat. "Hasn't been used to her full effect in years, and she yearns to push her engine to its limits in a contest against other teams."

"Alright…" I drew the word out, making my disbelief clear. She was weird. I wouldn't hold her weirdness against her, but she was weird.

"Though, she says that she'll need a full cleaning and maintenance test before she can play once more. Her bogie springs are weak, and her gun is misaligned." Jane's ramblings continued on, but the statement about the bogie springs caught my attention. From my position against the Hellcat, I could see the front left corner of the tank. Sure enough, the first wheel on the front bogie was elevated, indicating a bad spring, or a bad bogie.

"How did you know about the bogies?" I asked, interrupting Jane.

"The tank told me! She's really sweet, and very energetic." Jane's answer gave me a grand total of nothing. I should have expected that, really. Tanks couldn't talk to people.

"Well, I don't know if it's-"

"She!" Jane interrupted me.

"If _she_ is going to be used in actual matches. Kay seems to have a pretty good idea of what she's doing and what she wants to be doing, and light tanks don't really factor into that, as far as I can tell."

"Poor girl." Jane looked down at the gun barrel of the Stuart and patted it. "She'll be used to the best of her ability soon enough. I know that much. It may not be today, or this week, but she _will_ get to go as fast as she can, taking the fight to her opponents and outplaying them."

I smiled at her intent, even if it was absolutely crazy to consider. A tank feeling down because it wasn't being used! It's such an absurd thought that would absolutely work in a manga or anime, but never real life.

"Hey, c'mon. We've got a few more tanks to see, and then you should probably get going. I'd like to get back to working on some repairs." I said, waving Jane down from the Stuart. She gave me a warm smile as she gently hopped off the tank.

"Of course. Lead the way." Jane nodded, and I led her off to look at more tanks. Hopefully the crazy talk would die down a little and we could have the normal sort of human conversations like we occasionally had at lunch. At least, during the times when she wasn't speaking in her strange pseudo-language that only she and April knew.


	40. Chapter 39

**Hell On Tracks  
****Part 39**

Probably the most significant non-Tankery change to my life from going to Saunders was my morning routine. I was still up at an hour that some of my classmates considered ungodly, and I still started the morning with a pleasant cup of tea, but instead of spending time just enjoying the quiet of the house before my sisters woke up and started causing havoc, I was out socializing with the other Tankery girls who woke up early.

More than half of them were zombies requiring multiple cups of coffee to wake up, but that just gave me time to check for any late night emails or announcements on my laptop. Kay times her online announcements to go out well before bedtime, but some of my other teachers have bizarre schedules. I also occasionally got emails from Eclair, which I quickly responded to. After our post-match conversation, we had agreed to share emails and chat about Sensha-do strategy and stuff.

She was rather frustrated with the lack of French tanks that were good at mobile warfare, and was fruitlessly combing archives in her free time to try and find something. I had suggested either Shermans or Panthers, going by historical French use of them during and after the war, but that idea was soundly rejected because they weren't French tanks, merely ones used by the French.

After checking my laptop, I would hang out with the slowly awakening Tankery girls, nibbling on a pre-breakfast bagel and sipping at my supposedly heretical tea. I usually stuck with Arisa and Hannah, but occasionally one of the other girls wanted to hang out with "the crazy American." Most of them had never heard half of the slang you only picked up by living with the people comfortable enough with their language to bastardize it. They should have met Rach, since half of the time I wasn't sure she was speaking any language, let alone English.

People would eventually start flowing off to morning classes, and non-Tankery girls would enter the common room, which was the cue for Hannah and I to head out to get a hot breakfast and a workout in the gym before our classes started. We agreed to keep up the weight training even after I moved back to my own tank, because it was surprisingly fun, and good exercise in a different way than working around tanks was.

After workout, we went our separate ways. I cleaned myself up before class and spent more time than strictly necessary making sure my braid was done right. Then it was off to classes for me, and into whatever the day may hold.

Today, that was the usual mix of interesting and boring classes, heavy rain, and the kind of hyperactive fidgeting that I only ever did when I was super hyped for something. In today's case, it was because I was getting my tank back! No more slow, cramped, and massive M6 heavy tank for me, I was back in the much more spacious, somewhat faster, and only slightly less large M4 Sherman. It was no Hellcat, but it was my tank!

* * *

I drew my coat tighter around my body, trying to fend off the cold winds that accompanied the heavy rain. Kay was running a little late, which meant I was hiding under this somewhat protective tree, cursing the short Sensha-do regulation skirt. Even the warm tights I had picked up after the Maple match could only do so much against this weather.

The familiar bright headlights on Kay's Jeep were a sight for sore eyes, as was the cloth roof that she had clearly set up before coming this way. She was driving at a much more sedate pace than normal, which was perfectly understandable with this much standing water on the roads. The school ships had clearly been designed to avoid heavy weather, not endure it.

I emerged from under the tree as Kay pulled to a stop, and I quickly pulled myself into the Jeep. It was still cold, but the car did well enough at keeping the rain outside. Kay gave me a cheeky grin as she pulled back onto the main road. "So, how about that weather?"

I snickered, quickly covering my laugh with a hand. It was shivering, and I quickly began rubbing my hands together to get some warmth into them. "That was awful. I thought that the Pacific was supposed to be a calm ocean, not, well, this!"

"You've obviously never sailed around a typhoon. The school barely avoided one last year, and there was a huge spectacle to watch the weather from a safe distance." Kay said.

"That sounds amazing. Being able to watch from a safe distance, I mean."

"Not as much as you would expect. It was a wall of clouds off in the distance with the occasional crack of lightning. The satellite images were cooler." Kay shrugged.

"Huh." I huh'd. "Still sounds cool."

We chatted for a bit as Kay drove, focusing on everything but the awful weather and Sensha-do. I trailed off as I noticed Kay take a different turn than usual, and parked us on the side of the road, thankfully under a little bit of cover. Not enough to pop open the roof, but enough that we didn't need to run the wipers to see forwards.

"Tally?" Kay asked, initiating conversation once more. She sounded more subdued than she usually was.

"What's up?"

"Are you sure you're okay with going back to an M4 with San'nin no Tōzoku?"

Ah, that was it. She was worried. "What do you mean?"

"The Bandits are nothing but trouble. If I had the power, I would kick them out and be done with it, or not put you anywhere near them again. But the Chief is being cautious, and wants to have something solid to catch them." Kay explained.

I hesitated, thinking over what Kay had said, and what my answer would be. I wanted to say yes. Yes, I was sure I wanted to be in the M4 again, even if it meant being with those three. But if I did go back, would things be better? A seed of doubt was planted, and it grew rapidly. My two panic attacks had come while I was with the Bandits, or they were a direct cause of them.

Was it worth it? Having my tank back if it meant I was stuck with the Bandits again? Being in the M6 sucked, but Arisa and her crew were friendly most of the time. I waffled back and forth a few times before finally settling on my answer.

"I want to command a tank." I stated. It wasn't as confident as I would have liked, but it was enough that Kay nodded.

"If that's what you want, then I'll do my best to support you. If the Bandits cause you trouble, or do something you know is against the rules, please let me know."

"Alright." I nodded back. Kay started the jeep's engine once more, and we were off to class.

Doubts plagued my mind as we drove. Being a tank commander had been my dream for the longest time, and actually commanding a tank during the few matches I'd been in had been an amazing experience. But what would happen to me if the Bandits did get kicked out? I would have a tank, but I would be out a crew.

Something Lina had told me came to mind. A little while back, when we were first getting the M6 in running order, she had said she could fill in as a loader if I needed a crew member. That was potentially one crew member, but I still needed a few more to fill out a Sherman, or even just one more for a Stuart.

* * *

The rain showed no signs of letting up as Kay pulled the Jeep into the Sensha-do garage instead of parking out in the lot like usual. Not a bad idea with the weather this bad. The place was practically empty, which was unusual, even as early as we often were. I spotted what might have been a full tank crew working on a pair of Shermans, and a few of the mechanic girls running around, but other than that, nobody.

"Guess nobody wants to walk to class in this weather." I commented as we dismounted. Judging by how soaked the cloth roof on the Jeep was, it was a no-brainer.

"They're probably just using the below decks route. It takes longer, and you might run into some naval studies students, but it's dry." Kay shrugged.

"There's a below decks route?"

"Of course! We're on a school ship, not just a regular school on land!"

"Ah." I ah'd, nodding along. It made sense now that I actually thought about it, though I had no idea what the route was, or even where I would get into it. I knew of the dorm to campus route, but one to Sensha-do was news to me. About the only times I'd ever been down below the deck was when I was working in the tank workshop with the mechanic girls.

"Your M4 should be parked in the usual slot. I have some leadership stuff I need to do." Kay said with a nod in the direction of the rows of tanks. She gave me a wave, and started off towards the offices, drawing her hair into a ponytail as she went. It was weird to see her hair up, but it was a good look on her.

I stood there dumbly for a moment before giving Kay a half-hearted wave to her back. Once I gathered my senses, I pivoted on one foot and jogged down to where my tank should be parked. It was the exact same vehicle as before, complete with evidence of damage from the match against Maple. The spare wheels mounted to the front left bogie were one sign that the tank hadn't been fully repaired, as were the scorch marks on the right flank and bow, where we had taken non-disabling hits.

Thankfully, most of that was trivial to repair. The spare bogie wheels were the exact same as regular bogie wheels, and didn't need replacing. I'd probably have to give the flank hit an inspection to make sure there was a rend in the armor, but the head on hit had detonated the shell at the armor's surface like it was supposed to, leaving just a bit of cleaning to do there.

So, I took off my damp Sensha-do jacket, hung it off the 75 to let it dry, and got to work cleaning. It needed some soap, a good scrubby brush, and a helping of elbow grease, but the scorch mark on the flank was quickly cleaned up. No damage to the armor's integrity, which meant I could move on to the overall larger hit marker on the front glacis.

"Hey Tally!" A familiar voice called in English as I was finishing off the scorch. People had filed in to the garage while I had been working, and that included Tuco, Blondie, and Angel Eyes. Peculiarly, there was no honorific after my name, which everyone usually threw in even if the conversation was in the rare English.

"I heard we was gettin' our tank back." Blondie commented. "Didn't expect you t' still be with us, though. Thought you were gonna stay in that heavy tank with Arisa."

"God no." I shook my head. "I hated being in that thing."

"It's good t' see you back, TC." Tuco nodded.

"Likewise." I nodded. "Now you mind getting to work? Tracks still need tensioning, and I haven't turned stuff on to make sure it's all in working order yet."

Tuco nodded, and the Three Bandits actually got to work for once without causing problems or trying to slack off. Tuco and Angel went to either side to check the tracks, while Blondie clambered up the front glacis and dropped down into the driver's seat to power things on.

There were a few expected but not entirely welcome issues that cropped up, mostly due to sitting in the garage for two weeks without getting fixed up after a match. They slowed us down enough that we weren't quite ready when the start of class announcements came.

Kay's announcements were fairly quick, saying that we would be docking in Nagasaki tonight, and that anyone who wished to come along to the National Tournament placement lottery and other attached events was welcome to come, and there would be a plane to Tokyo after class finished up. The wonders of being in a filthy rich school that can afford to send its students on a plane trip for less than a day.

There were also going to be a series of placement matches this weekend at Camp Intrepid to see who would be filling out the team for the tournament. With seven slots available for the first round team, competition would be fierce to get in. All tank crews would be judged equally, allowing for really good Practice or Training company crews to make the roster if they were really that good and either hadn't had the opportunity to advance ranks, or had simply been overlooked.

The first matches of the tournament would begin on next Monday, and we had to be ready in case Saunders drew one of the day one slots. Today would be training, we had no practice tomorrow, and then we were off to the races to try and win a combat slot.


	41. Chapter 40

**Hell On Tracks  
****Part 40**

The Bandits actually kept up their politeness and willingness to actually work throughout practice. There weren't any angry outbursts or aggressive actions against the other tanks during drills, and they actually seemed to be happy just to be back in a tank. The rain didn't drown out our sense of enjoyment of being in a tank, though Blondie did complain a little about rainwater pooling by her feet whenever we opened the hatches to get in or out, or to just see what was around us.

At the end of practice, after Kay had given her announcements, Blondie stopped me, dropping a heavy hand on my shoulder. I flinched and squirmed away from the hand, but it served its purpose of getting my attention.

"Hey Tally. We, uh, we wanted to apologize for what happened. All of us. What happened with the Maple match wasn't fair to you, and we all had a bit of a role to play in that one." Blondie said, dropping her usual imitation of a Texan accent (which was really weird to hear when she spoke Japanese).

"Thank you. Just…" I hesitated, thinking through my words. "Just make sure it doesn't happen again."

Blondie smiled. "Of course not. It won't happen again."

I smiled, and wasn't quite fast enough to flinch away from another surprisingly heavy shoulder pat.

"Thank you. Hopefully we can set aside our differences and work together to earn a spot on the tournament team." I said, not letting my smile fade. We nodded at each other, then Blondie stepped away, headed towards where I saw Angel waiting.

I stuck around the garage a little bit as the crowd dispersed towards the below decks path back to campus. With the rain still pounding, it honestly sounded a lot more pleasant than walking abovedecks or taking the car with Kay. But Kay had promised me a ride to my dorm, and while it was the colder route, it was also faster and didn't require navigating through unfamiliar tunnel-like hallways.

"Ready to go, Tally?" Kay asked, grabbing my attention without needing heavy-handed tactics. I nodded to her, and we piled into her Jeep, which had dried out a little bit.

The drive was relatively long, with Kay navigating carefully. There was still a lot of standing water on the road, which slowed her down a fair amount. Probably more than was necessary, but maybe my growing up and learning to drive in a temperate rainforest was different than learning to drive while out at sea on a massive ship that can avoid inclement weather.

"How was practice?" Kay asked at a stop sign, before entering the empty intersection.

"It went well! The Bandits were as polite as could be, and didn't cause any problems for anyone!" I answered cheerfully. I was still in a good mood about the whole subject, which was admittedly mostly caused by me actually having my own tank and being in the TC's hatch.

"That's good. If they do end up causing you trouble, please let me know."

I nodded at Kay. She was just concerned for my wellbeing. Even if I really wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt after today's performance, I could understand where she was coming from.

We fell into an uneasy silence, accompanied only by the hammering rain. I didn't know what to say, what I wanted to say, or any topics that we could use to rapidly change the subject. The occasional glances I got from Kay made me worried that she also had something she wanted to say, but just didn't have the words.

Maybe I was just imagining that, though.

After what felt like a much longer than normal drive, we arrived in front of my dorm building.

"You coming to the placement lottery tomorrow?" Kay asked as I gathered up all my stuff and prepared to step out into the rain.

"I'm planning on it, though it mostly depends on my homework load. Math homework takes a lot of time, and I don't know how much I'll have over the weekend with the practice matches." I answered. "Good night, Kay."

"Night Tally! Sleep well!" Kay smiled and waved as I exited the car. It was a mad dash over to the entrance, and while the run was exhilarating, I was still drenched by the time I reached the door.

The rest of the night was spent cleaning myself up and working on homework. I had a sort of nervous energy coursing through my veins, and relatively boring homework kept me distracted enough for it to fade.

* * *

I woke up late. Instead of my early alarm waking me up, it was someone pounding on my door. I quickly came to my senses and searched around the room for my phone, which was supposed to be my alarm clock.

There was no sign of it. Stifling my instinctive reaction to curse, I hauled myself out of bed and answered the door, ignoring the messy state of my pyjamas and hair.

"Goooood morning." I drew the word out as I opened the door, revealing Arisa, fully dressed and ready for the day.

"Finally! Hannah-Chan was worried when you didn't show up earlier, and she went off to her workout alone a little while ago." Arisa said, stepping back from the door and dropping her arm back to her side.

"Sorry." I scuffed at the floor with my bare foot. "My alarm clock decided to walk off, and I can't find it."

"That's not good."

"No, it really isn't. Especially when it's my phone." I deadpanned.

"Do you want me to try and call it?" Arisa asked, digging into her uniform jacket's pockets. She drew her phone out and offered it to me. I nodded and accepted the device. It only took me a moment to navigate through her many pages of apps to find the phone function and dial my number.

We waited with bated breath, waiting for the buzz of my phone, or my usual ringtone. It didn't come.

"That's not good." I said, stating the obvious. Immediately, I began wracking my brain for where I could have misplaced it yesterday, if it wasn't in my dorm room. Gym locker was the obvious immediate answer, but I'd looked something up on my phone during lunch, so it couldn't have been before then.

Maybe I'd lost it during lunch? The other big option was during Sensha-do, and I didn't want to imagine the reaming Mom would give me if I'd lost my phone to the Turret Monster. Lost was unfortunate, but there was always the chance of finding it again; destroyed was somewhat worse.

I passed Arisa back her phone. "Thanks for trying?"

Arisa nodded. "I hope you find your phone soon. I can't imagine going to a big event like the start of Nationals without mine."

"That's because you use yours for spying."

"Gathering intel. You never know when you'll find out about an unexpected Tiger by looking at the various advertisement stands in closer detail after your first pass." Arisa said defensively.

"It's still spying. Just like those Jack Ryan movies."

Arisa gave me an offended look, complete with hand held over her heart. "It's Bond's work, not some Clancy kerfuffle."

"So you admit that it's spying. James Bond is a spy."

"It's gathering intel, and you can't convince me otherwise."

"Keep deluding yourself."

"I will, thank you very much." Arisa cracked a smirk before we both descended into laughter. The banter reminded me of something similar Rach and I would do back home, back when things were simpler and happier.

We quickly recovered from our laughter. Arisa gave me a simple nod. "Good luck with finding your phone."

"Thank you. Have a good rest of your day. See you at the garage for the flight over to Tokyo?"

"I'll see you then." Arisa nodded again, then walked off. I kept my composure just long enough to close the door and sit on my futon before I started freaking out.

Losing my phone was a very bad thing. I had no idea where it was, if someone had found it, or even if they had found it and taken it for themselves. And the less I thought about it somehow getting stolen, the better. I hadn't even interacted with anyone who I didn't know yesterday, so it couldn't have just been random thievery.

"Breathe, Tally." I reminded myself, trying to clear my mind. Now was not the time to freak out and panic, even if now would be the perfect time to do that because there's nobody around to catch me in the act. But I wasn't going to do that. I was going to calm myself, focus on what needed doing, and try to find my phone during the day. Hopefully before today's trip.

* * *

I didn't end up finding my phone before the end of classes. I'd asked all of my teachers if they had seen it, to no avail, and the cafeteria lost and found only had a few coats and bags, no cellphone. All that left was the Sensha-do facilities to search. If it wasn't there, then something was either horribly wrong, or it had gotten really lost.

Thankfully, the rain had stopped before I left for the garage, though I had to dance around a few larger puddles. Dark clouds still hung overhead ominously, but it was as dry as could be. All the better for flying.

The Tankery garage was practically deserted when I arrived. The massive hangar doors were closed, and I had to circle the building to find the much smaller back door to actually slip inside. Once I was inside, it was easy to find my tank, and give it an inspection for lost cellphones.

No joy on finding it in, around, or underneath the commander's seat. I didn't find it anywhere in the turret as I expanded my search, rifling past things such as Tuco's kill log (now updated to include the tanks we had successfully knocked out in the Maple match) and the identification book. The next place I looked was the Lost and Found bin by the bow gunner's seat.

Still no sign of my cellphone, but I did find a very familiar set of earbuds, which I'd lost and since replaced, and a few other nicknacks. A smudge of sharpie on the inside of the American Flag shutter shades in the bin caught my eye as I dug, and I pulled them out for a quick inspection in the reasonably well lit area outside the tank. It was smeared and faded, but the English letters KAY wear clear as day to me.

Disappointed at losing my phone, I nonetheless moved the shutter shades into one of my uniform's pockets. Might as well give them back to their proper owner.

I took a moment to cool down before hopping out of the tank. My phone was missing, I'd checked everywhere it should reasonably be, and I'm going on a day trip to an entirely new place. Today was just not turning out to be my day.

A beep from my watch caught my attention, and I checked the time. It was time to be gathering at the Saunders airfield for the flight to Tokyo. While the airfield wasn't too far away, I still had to run, and was very definitely late to the party.

I managed to slip in at what felt like the very last minute. I didn't recognize the plane beyond it being a fair bit smaller than the Super Galaxies we had used to transport the tanks to the Maginot match. Though, everything that wasn't a big airliner was smaller than a Super Galaxy, as far as I knew.

"Ah, Tally! You're late." The Chieftain noted as I slipped into the back of the fairly small crowd.

"Sorry Chief." I apologized. The run had been a bit longer than I had expected, and it left me breathless.

"Anyways, the halftrack is loaded, which leaves Kay, Naomi, Arisa, Hannah, and our late arrival Tally for the scout car, which I will be driving. I want everyone on their best behavior in the convention center. You are all wearing Saunders' uniform, so you will be representing our whole school. Anybody found causing trouble while on this trip will not be participating in the first match of the tournament." The Chieftain said, not missing a beat. "Vehicles are loaded, so everyone into the Globemaster. We will be leaving as soon as our pilots have finished their pre-flight checks."

A few of the girls in the crowd grumbled about not getting to be in the Scout Car, and I noticed at least one dirty look shot my way that I very quickly ignored as Kay came up to me.

"There you are, Tally!" Kay exclaimed. "I tried calling you, but you didn't pick up."

"Lost my phone sometime yesterday. I was actually checking my tank right before this."

"Oh no! Do you have any other ideas of where it might be?"

"No." I shook my head. "None of my teachers saw it, it wasn't in the cafeteria, and it wasn't at Sensha-do."

"That's not good." Kay noted. "Well, just stick with me while we're at the convention so you don't get lost. I need to go help with preflight stuff, so just grab a seat in the plane."


	42. Chapter 41

**Hell On Tracks  
****Part 41**

Tokyo was an awe inspiring place, even if I was only getting to experience a small part of it from the back of The Chieftain's M3 Scout Car as we drove from the airport to the convention center. Kay and Arisa were pointing out various cool landmarks and buildings to me, while Naomi was watching a movie on her phone, and Hannah was sprawled across a few seats napping blissfully. Directly behind us was the half-track, loaded with the other dozen or so Tankery members and their adult chauffeur/supervisor. They trust the students to fly the plane to get us here, but as soon as we land, we had to have the adults driving. It was absurd.

"Ooh, there's the Sensha-do History Museum! They have a Porsche Tiger on display there!" Kay exclaimed, pointing at a building with a tank sitting guard over a parking lot. The tank wasn't the Tiger that Kay had mentioned, but I didn't immediately recognize it.

"What's the tank out front?" I asked, as the museum slipped from sight as we rounded a corner.

"Finnish BT-42 assault gun." Arisa rattled off. "That particular tank is just a mockup, but inside they have the real steel version, which was used during the formative years of Sensha-do, back when they had to fire paint shells and all matches were one hit knockouts."

"They have all sorts of famous vehicles from Sensha-do there. They have a Comet painted up like the ones often used by the Shimada family, Shermans, T-34s, and all sorts of less famous tank designs that made a name for themselves in Sensha-do where they failed to do so in historical warfare. Oh, and they have the Nishizumi family's Maus on display." Kay added.

"They have a _Maus?"_ I was incredulous. The heaviest tank ever built was all the more impressive because they were so rare. A few had been built for Sensha-do use, but nobody could use the darned things. I'd seen one in an exhibition match once, and it had been singularly useless. Without roads to properly support the superheavy's weight, it had bogged down and been avoided by the other team once they knew where it was.

"The Nishizumi family hasn't used it in a match in years, so they loaned it to the museum. Might as well get some use out of it." Kay offered with a shrug.

"Fair enough. Hey Chief, how much farther?" I called up to our coach and current driver.

"Twenty minutes or so. Longer if traffic gets worse."

"Thank you!"

* * *

The convention center was packed. Unsurprising, considering what we were here for, but it was still more than a little intimidating. I stuck close to Kay through the ticket booths and into the main convention hall. There were stands selling memorabilia from all of the major schools participating and some of the minor ones, as well as general 63rd National Tournament stuff.

"You girls feel free to explore the place. I've got to run off to some coach stuff." The Chieftain said, tipping his cavalry hat at us before he left.

Immediately, the team began to split up. There were plenty of attractions, from the merchandise stands, to remote control miniature tank battles, and apparently they were showing a highlight reel of last year's tournament in the main hall, ahead of the lottery.

"Hannah-chan, let's go see if we can get a look at some of the lineups and leadership." Arisa said to her loader, a dangerous look in her eyes. I would have bet that she was gonna go spying and find intel on the other teams, but nobody would ever take me up on that. Hannah nodded, and the two of them split off.

"So, where to?" I asked Kay and Naomi.

"Let's start with the merchandise." Naomi suggested. "The lottery doesn't begin until after the coaches' meeting is finished, at which point they'll announce that it's starting."

"Alrighty then. Lead the way." I gestured forward towards the rows of booths. Kay grinned and led the charge into the crowd, half dragging me along. Naomi simply rolled her eyes and followed along in the back.

Most of the merch was pretty boring to me. T-shirts and other memorabilia from the various schools, and a few other sources selling tournament related merch. There was also a booth selling plushy tanks, which I dragged Kay to instead of the usual her dragging me around. I unashamedly squeed over the adorably plush, chibi tanks, and gave them all a good look over.

The Jagdpanzer 38(t) plush immediately stood out to me, because it looked like a professionally done, but slightly less loveable version of Rach's plush Hetzy, complete with lack of knitting. As cute as not!Hetzy was, I had my own choice of huggable tank to make. They had the hardest of partying tanks in an absolutely adorable KV-2 and TOG II*, but I quickly passed by those on my way to the lighter vehicles.

The plushiest and purest of fast vehicles stood out to me like a flare amidst a dark sky.

Plushy M18 Hellcat, the fastest plush this side of the Christie suspension. It was almost too adorable to pass up, but the price tag made me balk. A fierce internal battle raged in my head, between the part of me overwhelmed by the cuteness, and the part of me that controlled my wallet. I must have spend a good few minutes waffling over whether to pay up for the price gouged goodness, but I eventually caved to my desires and bought the Hellcat.

Kay gave me an amused look as we retreated back into the crowd. "Happy with your purchase?"

"It's a huggable Hellcat! Why wouldn't I be happy with it?"

"Because you didn't want to pay that much for it." Kay laughed, and poked the plush.

"Okay, fair. But just because I'm careful with my money doesn't mean that I can't enjoy the more, ah, questionable purchases. And as I said, it's a plushy Hellcat! My favorite tank, but ten times more adorable!"

Kay laughed. "Come on, let's go catch up with Naomi."

I nodded, and followed her towards a booth advertising an anime that I didn't recognize; "Steel Knights: Panzer Vor!" It was clearly an anime about tanks, or maybe tank girls if the carboard cutouts having the anime girls holding or otherwise wielding the recognizable turrets of a few famous tanks was anything to go by.

The booth was fairly popular, and I spotted Naomi a fair way through the line. She was chatting with a girl from one of the other schools, Anzio if I remembered her school logo correctly.

Kay led me off to one side, where we waited for Naomi to finish up and rejoin us. I looked over the stand's various cardboard cutouts before speaking up. "I didn't know Naomi was into anime. Isn't she more of a movie girl?"

"She is." Kay nodded. "Doesn't mean she can't like anime. Plus, Steel Knights is great. It has a wonderful plot about the main character, the girl with the Panzer IV turret, adjusting to her new surroundings after getting transferred to a combined unit of Sensha Musume, Senmusu for short. While fighting against the evil oncoming horde of generic tank girl bad guys is the big part of the action, the important parts come in when she's bonding with her new unit, and even making inter-unit bonds with a bunch of allied units. The girl with the Sherman armor, Abby, is my favorite."

"Of course she's your favorite." I sighed, looking for the cutout with the American character. She was as stereotypical as I expected, blonde hair, blue eyes with stars for pupils, a brown stetson, and a revolver in her offhand.

Oh, hey! Naomi had made it to the front of the line. She and her friend from Anzio were both getting a copy of whatever the main product the stand was selling, and were taking pictures of each other with some of the cardboard cutouts.

Kay waved over to Naomi as the Firefly's commander left the stand. The girl from Anzio gave Naomi a peck on the cheek before running off in another direction. Naomi was absolutely unashamed as she approached us, and she just slipped what looked like a box set of the anime into her bag.

"So, how's Mary?" Kay asked, a slight hint of teasing in her voice.

"Amaretto's doing well. She's been enjoying her cooking classes, and is learning new ways to prepare pastas." Naomi offered. "Budget cuts have made snack times tight, though not enough to cause food riots. Not yet anyways."

I stared blankly at Naomi. Cooking classes made sense, but official snack times being affected by budget cuts, and potential food riots? On second thought, it made about as much sense as some of the weirdly American things at Saunders, so maybe it's just an artifact of the school ships being weird.

* * *

We explored the stalls for a while, and Kay stopped to make a quick purchase of her own, a book about a few famous tank battles on the Western Front, and a book of Sensha-do art. Eventually, though, we made our way into the main auditorium, where the highlight reel was running.

The match being shown was looking like an absolute slaughter, as Matildas waltzed into a bunch of Panzer I's and II's, with absolutely predictable results. Even without the sheer technological advantage of the Matildas over the early war light tanks, the way St. Gloriana's tanks were fighting made it clear that they had earned their place as one of the big names for a reason.

I stopped in awe to watch the fighting, but Kay grabbed my arm before I could get left behind, and she dragged me just enough to get my attention as we walked to where Arisa had already picked out some seats. Arisa waved us down, and we quickly took our seats, with Naomi on the outside of the row.

"Find anything interesting, Arisa?" Kay asked once everyone was settled down. I pulled the plushy Hellcat out of my bag to examine it more in-depth than I'd been able to do at the stall, and listened in on the conversation.

"The big names are all being their usual level of quiet, though Anzio seems to have budget cuts related to getting something new for Sensha-do. Yogurt has shown their hand with those new purchases from Kuromorimine, and they have at least one Panther now. Bellwall has pulled out of the tournament this year, and have been replaced by a completely new team, Ooarai. They didn't have a stand, and I couldn't find anything on their team beyond a slowly dying tradition which was disbanded twenty years ago." Arisa reported.

"A new team, straight into the tournament? Sounds fun!" Kay said cheerfully. "It'll be interesting to see what they have to offer!"

That was all Arisa had to report from her snooping around, and so our group settled into casual conversation while watching the highlights. One absolutely awesome moment we watched was during the first round Saunders vs Chi-Ha-Tan match. The light Japanese tanks were no match for the Shermans, but instead of facing the hopeless and charging Chi-Has, Kay had maneuvered platoons around to catch the charge in the flanks and completely halted the charge's momentum before the Shermans descended upon their opponents from all sides like sharks to a feeding frenzy.

"So, how will the lottery work?" I asked, as more and more people began filing into the auditorium.

"First four draws are always the top four placements from last year's tournament, in order. Pravda draws first, then Kuromorimine, St Gloriana goes next, since they lost to Pravda, and we go forth. After that, it's random, decided by a drawing with the coaches." Naomi explained to me.

I nodded, and settled back into my seat. The highlight reel faded out on the screens, and was replaced by a tournament bracket. Two brackets, actually.

"All attendees, please report to the main auditorium. Repeat, all attendees to the main auditorium. The placement lottery will begin soon." A feminine voice called out over the intercom.


	43. Chapter 42

**Hell On Tracks  
****Part 42**

It took a few minutes for everyone to file into the auditorium, and the room ended up absolutely packed. The lights dimmed, and the hostess took to the stage. Ceremonials were short and sweet, mostly introducing teams and all that.

I sort of spaced out during the ceremonials, and went to my phone for a bit of distraction. With it missing, however, I was left disappointed, and had to refocus on the proceedings to not be bored out of my skull.

"This year's tournament will have the following changes from last year." The hostess said, catching my attention right away. "Teams who lose a match will not be immediately removed from the tournament. They will instead join a second bracket which will compete for third and fourth place."

That announcement got a number of gasps from across the room. Modified double elimination wasn't all that weird a concept, I'd seen it done in a number of baseball tournaments, though usually above the level that Dad coached at.

"What's the big deal?" I whispered to Kay.

"Nationals has never been double elimination before. This is a huge break from tradition." Kay whispered back.

"Oh."

Well, if it meant that everyone had more opportunities to shoot at each other with tanks, it was a good thing, right?

There were a few more minor rules adjustments to account for last year's incident, such as the ability to call a halt to play in dangerous situations. Then the hostess called the first eight team captains down to the stage for the drawing. The Big Four of Kuromorimine, Pravda, Saunders, and St Gloriana, plus Koala Forest, Maginot, Anzio, and Chi-Ha-Tan.

I saw Eclair pull Kay into a hug as the two ran into each other on the way down to the stage, and I felt myself frown. Something about them hugging like that annoyed me, and I wasn't quite sure why.

The first eight drawings went smoothly. As last year's champion, Pravda's incredibly short captain drew first, taking the three slot. Kuromorimine took unlucky thirteen, and I could have sworn her dour look turned into a proper scowl. With surprisingly little pomp and circumstance, St Glo's elegant looking captain drew the ten slot.

Kay made a bit of a show of her drawing, taking a pose and displaying the card for the whole world to see before she actually looked at what it was. Lucky number seven. If I was superstitious like Marie was, it might have been a good sign. But I'm not my middle sister.

The next four draws gave a decent spread. Koala in two, Maginot and Anzio facing off in five and six, and Chi-Ha-Tan ready to be absolutely crushed by KMM in slot fourteen.

Following Anzio's draw, there was a short break. More than a few groups filed out of the auditorium entirely, and Kay disappeared amongst the crowd.

"An even spread of the Big Four." Hannah noted. "Early rounds should be interesting."

"Probably more interesting to see the competition towards third and fourth. We'll be dominating the winner's bracket with the rest of the Big Four, leaving the smaller teams to duke it out for a shot at the top four." Naomi said.

"Has Tankery really gotten that stale?" I asked, almost disappointed.

"How often do you expect teams like Clemson or Alabama to lose at football?" Arisa asked. "Now apply that to four teams in a much smaller tournament."

"Oh." I said softly. I'd never been into football, but Mom always watched the college playoffs. Only a few teams could compete with Clemson or 'Bama, and that was from every college football team in the US. Four hyper-dominant teams out of sixteen...

* * *

Arisa excused herself while I was introspecting, and took Hannah with her. She'd said they were going to hang out with some of the other girls from our team, but they were probably just spying on people again. Naomi patted me on the back and tried to cheer me up, but something about Sensha-do, the coolest sport ever, losing popularity because of teams consistently dominating just drained me.

"Hey girls!" Kay said cheerfully as she sat down between Naomi and I. "Popcorn?"

Naomi accepted the snack, but I didn't react, still just stuck in my shocked state. Kay gave me a hesitant poke, and when I didn't react, pulled me into a tight hug.

"Hey, Tally, it's okay. You're fine. Nothing bad happened." Kay said softly. I just didn't react until she started stroking my hair. That broke me out of my shock, and I leaned into Kay's embrace. "You okay?"

"Yeah..." I murmured into Kay's arm. "Just shocked about Sensha-do's popularity."

Kay patted my head. "Yeah, it can be pretty rough. It's why we don't bring out the really stomp tanks, because at least against M4s most teams stand a chance."

We sat there for a few moments before Kay released me. She promptly shoved a massive bucket of popcorn towards me. "Popcorn?"

The bucket caught me off guard, mostly because of how big it was, and how much popcorn was already missing from it. I knew Kay was a big eater, but this was something else entirely! Nevertheless, I took a handful of the snack and almost immediately regretted it when the greasy, buttery goodness got all over my hand. While I didn't refuse to eat the unhealthy mess of popcorn I'd already taken, I did politely say no to any more while I tried to wipe my hands as clean as possible.

"Who do you think would make for an interesting match?" I asked after a moment. People were firing back into the auditorium, and if I had to guess, we'd be starting back up soon.

"Jatkosota is always a fun matchup. They practice with Kuromorimine, which means they're really freaking good. Not Big Four good, but that's partially because their tanks aren't great. Don't underestimate Mika's BT-42, though. She may be a little odd, but she has a cunning mind and a recklessly brave crew." Kay said.

"Yogurt should be an interesting matchup, too. If they have new and advanced tanks like Arisa said, they could be quite the challenge." Naomi added. "It's a shame Bellwall pulled out this year. They're usually quite the challengers."

"Oh?" I asked, interested.

"They have a lot of late war German vehicles, and a Soviet T-44 to boot."

"Oh wow. That has a 100mm gun, right?" I asked, trying to make sure I had the right tank in mind.

"Only an 85." Kay answered. "You're thinking the T-54, which isn't Tankery legal at this level."

I ah'd and nodded. Before our conversation could carry on anymore, the lights in the room dimmed once more. The show was back on. We all sat back up in our seats, and Kay dug into her popcorn once more.

Eight team captains moved to the stage as the hostess did more ceremonial stuff. I didn't expect to recognize any of the captains except maybe by face, and I wasn't at all surprised when I didn't. Kay did, though.

"That's Nishizumi-chan! From Kuromorimine!" She whispered, pointing out one girl in particular. I didn't at all recognize the white seifuku she was wearing, but Naomi did.

"Ooarai? What's she doing there?"

"I don't know. Arisa said she was fully off the KMM team and out of Tankery altogether." Kay whispered.

The first four drawings of these eight disappointed everyone a little bit. Jatkosota was at the opposite end of the bracket in the sixteen slot, and Yogurt took the eleven slot, neither of which had an opponent yet. Viking Fisheries took the number one slot, against Koala, and BC Freedom took nine, against St Gloriana.

Up next was Ooarai, under Nishizumi. The poor girl must have been practically shaking as she drew her card. So many dangerous opponents still available, and with a team that as far as anyone knew was brand new.

Number eight. Our opponent.

"Oooh, very interesting." Kay mused.

"Unfortunate for them, but interesting." Naomi agreed.

* * *

The rest of the drawings went by quickly, as did the rest of the convention. Arisa and Hannah did some snooping around, but couldn't find anything about Ooarai's capabilities. Then, as the day drew to a close, everyone gathered up their stuff, we got back in the cars, and drove to the airport, where our plane was waiting.

It was a quiet flight home, and we landed just before dark. Most everyone dispersed back to their dorms, or to take the car and halftrack back to the garages they had come from, but Kay drew me aside before I could leave.

"Hey, we're gonna have a short planning session at my dorm. Do you want to come?" Kay offered, gesturing to where Naomi, Arisa, and Hannah were waiting.

The offer caught me completely off guard, and it took me a moment to get over my natural instinct to say no. I did get over it, and accepted the offer, eventually.

Everyone piled into Kay's Jeep, and we sped off to her dorm. Five people was a tad uncomfortable in the car, but we made it just fine. Kay led us all inside and up two flights of stairs to her dorm room.

I wasn't quite sure what I expected Kay's dorm to look like, but a somewhat sparse room that was larger than the average dorm room was certainly not it. She had a few posters on the walls, but it was basically a dorm room with a futon, dresser, and desk. She had a reasonably sized TV and a minifridge tucked away, as well as a kotatsu in the middle of the open space, but it just felt like a normal dorm room.

"Okay everyone!" Kay began, as we all filed in. "Our first opponent of the tournament is Ooarai Girls Academy. Intel, what do we know about them?"

Arisa spoke up first. "Ooarai hasn't had a Tankery team in twenty years, until this year. They have two matches on record, one against St Gloriana, and one against Maginot. Neither match has a public recording."

"In addition," Hannah added, "the school seems to be on the brink of shutting down. They certainly don't have the funds to buy any tanks, and it's an odd choice to even start a Tankery program while under threat of shutdown."

"Maybe they're trying to save their school through Sensha-do?" Naomi offered.

"Please. That only works in anime and manga." Arisa derided.

"What if they're using old tanks from twenty years back, and just trying the sport out without any real risks? May as well use the supplies if they have them." I suggested.

"Maybe." Kay said, shrugging. "Why they're doing what they're doing doesn't matter. We know their commander is the younger Nishizumi, but unless they're really lucky, they won't have the gear to pull a Kuromorimine."

Arisa pulled a file out from her backpack, and set it down on the kotatsu. "This is their team twenty years ago. It's a mix, with mostly German armor. Heavy hitters back in the day were a pair of Tigers, one of them a Porsche prototype, a few Panzer IVs, and some StuG IIIs."

I moved up and leafed through the file, looking at the various tanks. It was a weird mix, though. A few Panzer IVs with the long 75, the StuGs, but also a Char B1, an M3 Lee, and a… light tank of some kind that I didn't recognize.

"Chances are, all of their good tanks were sold off when the program closed. Everyone wants Tigers and StuGs." Hannah said.

"We should still go in like we expect them to have some good tanks." Kay said. "Arisa's M4A1 and Naomi's Firefly should be enough of a deterrent against any heavy tanks, while not being completely overwhelming if they don't have that much."

"Do we know if St Glo or Maginot recorded their matches against Ooarai?" I asked. "Might be worth a shot to ask if we can see those tapes."

"Good idea. Tally, can I trust you to ask Eclair, while Naomi asks Rukuriri about St Gloriana's match?" Kay said. Naomi and I both nodded, and I went for my phone to start typing up an email, only to realize once again that it's still missing.

"Do we have a preliminary plan that we'll adjust to fit what we know about Ooarai's lineup?" Hannah asked.

"Eight M4s, Arisa's M4A1 (76), and Naomi's Firefly. Tally, any ideas?" Kay said, turning to me. I froze as all eyes turned to me. "It's okay if you don't have anything."

"Well, if Arisa is our flag tank, shouldn't we keep a second mobile tank killer, so we don't risk the flag against anything big? If they somehow still have a Tiger, we should have options." I said, overcoming my fear.

"I'll consider it." Kay said. "In the meantime, we'll go for three platoons of three, plus Arisa hanging back. Aggressive recon to probe their flanks and get knockouts where possible without being too risky. My platoon and whoever leads third platoon will harass, while Naomi's platoon will stay back to react to threats and interdict heavies."

Everyone nodded along with the plan. It was a pretty standard playbook plan, which meant it was a good starting point. How we reacted to Ooarai's lineup and strategies would be more telling than our preliminary plan.

"Any other comments?" Kay asked the assembled group. We all answered in the negative. "Okay! Naomi, Tally, see about getting those recordings. Arisa, Hannah, I want you two doing intel and recon. Leadership meeting adjourned. Placement matches are tomorrow, and I want all of you ready to go by eight AM ship time."

I blinked. I knew Kay thought I was a good planner and strategist, but to be invited to a leadership meeting? It felt wrong. I'd only been with the team for what, a month, month-and-a-half? Waaaaay too little a timeframe to be invited to these sorts of meetings.

"Feel free to hang out for a bit, Tally." Kay said, snapping me out of my stunned state. "There's soda and snacks in the fridge, and Naomi's putting on an anime for everyone. I'll give, Arisa, and Hannah a ride over to your dorm in a bit, but for now, just relax and have some fun!"

I nodded, and looked around the room, where Hannah already had a can of soda in hand, and Naomi had started up an anime about magical girls that I vaguely recognized. Madoka something or other, I think. Aunt Nat swore it was amazing, but it was never really my preferred genre.

Being in the room with the other Sensha-do leadership suddenly felt really awkward, despite hanging out with most of them somewhat individually at one point or another. A part of me wanted to slip out of the room and go back to my dorm alone, but it was quietly silenced by the part of me that didn't want to disappoint Kay.

I didn't take anything from the fridge, but I did settle into a cozy seat at the kotatsu, and watched the episode Naomi had put on. When it was over, we all packed up our things and Kay gave those of us who needed it a ride to our dorms. I practically collapsed onto my futon as soon as I got into my room, barely pausing to kick off my shoes and pull out my brand new Hellcat plush to cuddle with, and I was out like a light.


	44. Chapter 43

**Hell On Tracks  
****Part 43**

Three of the five people who had arrived early to the Tankery Garage were actually awake. With no ride from Kay this morning, Hannah and I had to physically carry Arisa across campus. Those workout sessions with Hannah had paid off, so it wasn't awful, just something I'd rather not do again.

Some bright soul had only brewed a pot of decaf coffee this morning, and by the time Hannah realized what had happened, it was already too late, and we needed to get moving. So, we half carried her, half dragged her, hoping that Kay would have a pot of actual coffee ready. Apparently the leadership meeting room had a coffee pot and other such amenities, but everyone enjoyed meeting at Kay's room when possible.

Naomi was almost as bad as Arisa. Though she was clearly bright eyed and somewhat aware of her surroundings compared to the zombie-like Arisa, the scowl on her face made it very clear that she wasn't to be talked to until she'd had her coffee.

"Goooood morning!" Kay called cheerfully, and loudly, as Hannah and I entered the garage, Arisa still hanging between us. Naomi scowled at her from the magazine she was hiding behind, but didn't say anything.

"Morning, Kay!" Hannah answered, while I just sort of waved.

"Coffee's in the back room." Kay said, acknowledging the zombie in the room. Hannah and I quickly set Arisa down on some convenient stairs, and then Hannah ran off to get Arisa a cup of black coffee, instead of her preferred sugared up abomination.

Those of us who were actually awake chatted and had a generally pleasant time while we waited for the other two to wake up. I let Kay know that I'd sent Eclair the email asking for footage of their Ooarai match, and that with any luck we would hear back from her by the time we returned from Camp Intrepid and I could actually get back to my laptop.

Naomi was moving first, and her early morning grumpiness had disappeared entirely with the infusion of caffeine. She let Kay know that she'd sent the request to Rukuriri, but that she didn't like using her "contacts" in such a way. It was something about a promise to keep things purely casual, whatever that meant.

I started feeling awkward and out of place after Arisa woke up and we moved on to leadership stuff. To decide who the seven other tanks would be for the Ooarai match (which was going to be on Wednesday), the twenty four teams who volunteered would go through a Panzerfahren Festival style tournament. Basically, we would start off in teams of three, and the best performing tank from the losing team would join the winning team as they moved on to the next round.

It was a pretty clever way to judge who would join the team, all things considered. We would use the big field at Camp Intrepid, split into sections so there could be multiple matches going at once.

"So why am I here?" I asked glumly, after the explanation of how things would work. They all knew how things worked, so the explanation was purely for my benefit.

"You're here because we think you have leadership potential." Naomi said. Kay nodded vigorously.

"You've got a good analytical mind, and can come up with really good plans. In every match you've been in, we've heard of your spur of the moment plans that have worked out really well, even when made with the most limited of intel. The match against Maginot comes to mind." Arisa added.

"We think you can do this Tally!" Kay said. She was enthusiastic, but I wasn't so sure. I'd been lucky, rather than good in those situations. "If you don't believe in yourself, believe in the me who believes in you!"

Hannah broke out in giggles when Kay not only shouted that last line and took an incredibly silly stance, with a finger pointing dramatically into the air. It was ridiculous, and Hannah's laugher was enough to break the dam. I descended into giggles as well, followed swiftly by Arisa and Kay.

"We won't force you to come if you don't want to be leadership. It's a lot of hard work, with only a few actual benefits. If you say no, you won't be kicked from the team, you'll still be a TC, and we won't think any less of you." Kay said, becoming slightly more serious.

A large part of me wanted to say no. Say that I wasn't that good, that I couldn't handle it, that there was probably someone better suited to joining the leadership. My mouth opened, starting to say just that.

I paused.

If they didn't think I was good enough, they wouldn't have offered. Kay wouldn't have invited me last night and had me join that leadership meeting, even if I wasn't quite aware of what was going on until it was over. They believed in me, where I didn't.

What would Rach do? Easy answer. She would be over the moon, squealing loudly and incomprehensibly, before finally calming down enough to say yes. She always wanted to be a team captain.

What would Rach tell me to do? This is absolutely the type of situation where I would run off, calm down, and then go to her for advice. Naturally, she would be super excited for me, but she wouldn't just tell me to say yes. She'd almost certainly try to come up with a tank metaphor to help me think of my own answer.

'Come on, Tally! You didn't join Tankery because you were good at it! Use this as an opportunity to grow, and get better at it!' I imagined her cheering. 'Now put your frontal armor towards the target and advance!'

The clarity I heard in that imaginary voice stunned me for a moment. In that moment, I was vaguely aware of Kay looking at me with some concern on her face, and realized just how long I had paused for.

'Thanks, imaginary Rach.'

"I accept. I'll do it." I said, breaking out of my internal space.

"You do?" Naomi asked, surprised.

"You do!" Kay exclaimed moments later, her concern fading in and instant. Then she pulled me into a tight hug.

Kay held the embrace for a long minute before releasing me. "Okay! Like Hannah-chan, you won't be full public leadership, at least at first. If you want to be later on, we'll discuss it then. Your duties will mostly be assisting with planning for matches, helping arrange things, and occasionally leading a bit of practice. And being proficient in every role in a tank. That may take some time to get you up to speed, but if a tank needs a temporary crew member for a practice match, leadership usually steps up to the plate."

I nodded along, more or less getting the gist of it. I was still a little stunned by everything.

* * *

After that, we were on to planning and scheduling. Twenty four tank crews had volunteered to participate, including my tank. Completely understandably, I wasn't being given any special treatment for being newly inducted to leadership.

"Camp Intrepid's main field is big enough to be split into four moderately sized skirmish fields. If Kay, Naomi, myself, and Hannah set up in the observation tower in the center of town, we should be able to have one of us watching each field, and run four matches at once." Arisa explained. We were all gathered around a large map of the main field, with Arisa marking areas off with push pins and colored yarn. Like the type you would expect on a conspiracy theorist's corkboard. Or the one in Aunt Yvonne's garage, connecting her favorite book universe together in new and interesting ways.

... okay, Aunt Yvonne may be a bit of a conspiracy theorist as well. But that's okay! I won't hold her weirdness against her, just like I treat Jane and April like normal people.

"Isn't there a whole lot of room for error there, for the picking the best crews from each team thing?" I asked.

"There's a break between rounds and matches, so that tanks can get repairs, and we can review footage from camera drones." Naomi answered. "Though sometimes it's pretty easy to figure out who is the best on a particular team."

"I'll take northeast quadrant!" Kay volunteered enthusiastically.

"Southeast." Arisa claimed moments later. Hannah took northwest, leaving Naomi with southwest.

From there, we moved to drawing up the teams. Kay pulled a clean five gallon bucket out from a supply closet, and we worked together to write down the names of the TC for each tank, fold up the card, and drop them into the bucket. Once all twenty four names were in the bucket, we began the drawings. Kay, as Team Captain, took the first drawing, and we cycled around from there. Hannah and I only drew one team each, while the others got two, for a total of eight teams of three.

I only recognized a few names on the list. My tank was on team number 5, Haru was on team 7, and a few other teammates who I recognized were spread around. Nobody I knew on my first team, or the one I was facing off against in the first round.

All in all, it was looking to be an interesting experience.

* * *

I spent the next hour or so inspecting my tank and doing some maintenance work on it. There wasn't a whole lot I could do on my own, but I did end up greasing the turret ring and swapping out a bogie with a dud spring. Which is certainly not the easiest task in the world to do solo, but I managed.

The Bandits showed up right before Kay wanted everyone at the garage. I almost thought they would just skive off, but they surpassed my expectations by arriving in a good mood. Not in time to help with maintenance, but they arrived nonetheless.

Kay's announcements were fairly short and to the point, explaining how the mini tournament was going to work, and who would be on which teams. There would be a little bit of time before the matches started over at Camp Intrepid where the teams could meet each other and plan. After the announcements, we were instructed to mount up and roll out.

We were maybe half of the way to the camp when the radio lit up, snapping me out of my boredom. Not having a cell phone really hurt on trips like that, and you could only read through the tank ID manual so many times before the info started going in one ear and out the other.

"Hello? Is this Evans-senpai's tank?" An unfamiliar voice called through the radio.

I snatched up the headset and mouthpiece for the radio. "This is Tally. Who's this?"

"I'm Chloe." The girl on the other end of the radio said. "I'm on your team, along with Amy-chan. We just graduated to Combat Company a few weeks ago."

"Ohaio!" Another voice said. At a guess, it was probably Amy.

"I see. Is this about getting some early planning in?" I asked. Calling over the radio to plan during the drive over was a good idea. I'd have to see about using it in the future.

"Yup! Chloe and I already have part of a plan, but we wanted your input, too!" Amy said.

"So far, we were thinking someone scouts ahead, while the other two hang back and snipe at the targets that the scout calls out. We're playing in the northeast quadrant, and there's a pretty good hill to sit on and get long ranged shots, and plenty of cover for a scout to take." Chloe explained.

I slung the headpiece over my head, and used my free hand to tap on the rim of the open TC's hatch. The plan had some merit, but the scouting tank was going to be very easy prey if caught out, and Shermans aren't the stealthiest tanks. If we'd had a Stuart or Locust, I could see it, but a Sherman was just asking for trouble.

"If the scout gets caught, it's game over. Long ranged fire needs a spotter, and once they're out, the snipers will be outnumbered." I said, before ducking down into the turret proper. Tuco passed me the map before I had the chance to ask for it, and I quickly moved back to my seat, and spread the map out over the top of the turret. "There's a small gully on the eastern end of our play area. Scouts wouldn't be able to see anything approaching through it, and snipers would have trouble hitting targets in it. If we push through it as cover, we might be able to catch the flanks of an advancing force."

"And it would leave us exposed to a more defensive team. There's very little concealment at the ends of the gorge. If the opposing team also takes the gorge, there's very little room to maneuver. I don't think we should take that risk." Amy countered.

"Do we know which starting location we have?" I asked. It was something I really should have taken note of during the drawing, but it just slipped my mind.

"Northern." Chloe answered immediately.

I pored over the map, looking for an easy solution. None appeared to me. The terrain was flat, with most of the cover coming from the various bits of brush and trees. There was a hill to the north, but it was only barely above the rest of the play area, and had very little cover. Decent for a long ranged engagement, but dangerous to get caught out on. The gully called to me, as one of the few areas of good concealment and flanking opportunities, but Amy had a point with the lack of concealment coming out of it.

"There's a bombed out house near the middle, kinda southwest of the center." I pointed out. The house wasn't listed on the map as bombed out, but if the town in the middle of the main field was anything to go by, it was. "Can we use that for anything?"

"It's a lot closer to their end of the map, and probably provides some really good cover, too." Chloe noted. "Though… it's the only major structure on their end of the map, without poking into the center town."

"Can we expect them to go either there or the gully?" Amy asked.

"Probably. Cover is too sparse for much else, unless they want to rush the middle to try and catch us off guard. Gully would be best cover against a rush, if we can make it in time." I said, resuming my finger tapping on the rim of the hatch.

"What if two of us go to that gorge, while the third remains back on the hill as a covering sniper? If they do rush, we have a crossfire. If they go for the gorge, the narrow terrain might lessen the effect of being outnumbered. And if they go house, we have decent odds of getting a flank on their position." Amy suggested.

It wasn't a bad idea. The main routes of approach were all covered, and it gave us options for dealing with wherever the other team engaged us from. It just might have a chance of success.

"I like it." I said with a nod. Chloe agreed with me. "So, who goes where?"

We spent the rest of the trip hammering out the more minute details of our plan. By the time we reached Camp Intrepid, and actually got to meet Amy and Chloe face to face, I was feeling confident in our chances of victory.


	45. Chapter 44

**Hell On Tracks  
****Part 44**

The first match went like a dream. Chloe and I were the advance force in the small canyon, while Amy stayed back and provided long ranged support. We almost didn't need it. The other team had decided to rush through the middle, probably trying to intercept us or make it a close ranged brawl. Instead, Chloe and I appeared on their flanks, and caught them completely by surprise. It took one salvo to get on target, and then Angel's excellent gunning racked up two knockouts for our tank. The retaliation fire bounced off the front hull, and then Amy hammered their flank as they turned to engage us.

With the match concluded in a very sudden and decisive manner, our team regrouped and set off for the tank park to watch the last ongoing match and wait for Kay to decide who our new teammate was.

"Looks like we're playing each other next round." I commented, sitting down next to Haruna. "Congrats on your win."

"Thanks! You did good work, too." Haru replied. Her match had been the first one done, though she'd only beaten my team by like 30 seconds. Counter deploying against the more aggressive teams was super easy in the 3v3 on small fields, and we'd both gotten lucky in that regard.

The two of us sat there in silence for a bit, watching the last match. One team was dug in surprisingly heavily for the terrain and how long the match had been going, and they were duking it out at long range with a team that was much more mobile, and much more exposed. I was rooting for the mobile team, even if I wasn't confident in their ability to win.

Finally, Haruna broke the quiet. "How have you been doing? We haven't really seen each other since the Maple match."

"It's…" I paused, trying to think of how to word it. "There have been ups and downs. I got thrown into the M6 for a few weeks, while my crew was on probation for that friendly fire incident."

"Oooh. Did you like it?" Haruna asked eagerly.

I scoffed. "No. It was awful. I was the assistant loader. My job was passing ammo from the hull to the actual loader in the turret. I barely had enough room to maneuver, and I'm fairly certain I got more than my fair share of concussions in there."

Haru winced. "You'd think a big heavy tank like that would have room for the crew."

"You'd think that. But the fighting compartment goes from the front of the hull to the back of the turret. Everything behind that is all engine. And you have to fit six people into it." I mimed roughly how little room there was in the tank. "How about you?"

"Well, I got promoted to Combat Company this last week! Though, it makes me wonder why we're out here for this mini tournament when we already have enough tanks on Combat Company to make a full team." Haru put a finger up to her lips as she pondered the idea.

"From what I've heard, and this could be totally wrong, Combat Company is more for the regular season matches that happen in the fall. The tournament is a special event where we want to make sure we have the best of the best."

"Huh." Haruna huh'd. "I guess that makes sense. Though, shouldn't Combat Company already be the best we have to offer?"

I shrugged. With that, we descended back into silence to watch the match. The mobile team was now down a tank, and there just wasn't enough room to get around the entrenched team. Unless they pulled off something crazy, they would lose.

The match went on for a while longer. The mobile team disengaged and fell back, and refused to go anywhere near the entrenched team's position. If their opponent wanted to win, they needed to leave their defenses and go hunting.

It was turning out to be a very hot and sunshiny day. One of Haruna's crew members brought the two of us water bottles from one of the coolers, which we were both grateful for. Haru chugged hers down, while I was slower with my drink, savoring the cold water.

Unconsciously, I went to pull my sunglasses out of my pocket, but paused when my hand discovered something odd. I had two pairs of sunglasses in that pocket… One was my usual pair of cheap disposable ones that I'd picked up at a convenience store when I lost my old pair, and the other was Kay's American flag shutter shades.

The ones I had grabbed from my tank yesterday and forgotten to give back to her.

I slipped my own sunglasses on, and turned to Haruna. "Hey, I need to go take care of something real quick. Good luck in the next match!"

"You too, Tally!" Haru said with a grin.

I waved goodbye to Haruna, then ran off towards the leadership, Kay's shutter shades firmly in hand. I'd forgotten about them yesterday, I wasn't going to today. It was only a quick moment to cross the tank park and reach the small leadership tent, but the dash felt much longer than it should.

"Hello?" I called into the tent, as I skidded to a halt. The mud tried to trap my boots, but it lacked the suction of wetter mud, and just sort of sank a bit under my weight.

"Tally?" Naomi asked, poking her head out of the tent's flap. "We're still debating things and waiting on Hannah. Can it wait?"

I wanted to say no, get Kay's attention, and give her the shades right away. So I nodded and held out the shades to Naomi. "Yeah, it can wait. Do you mind giving these to Kay for me?"

"Sure thing."

I loitered around the tent for a few minutes, doing my best to not eavesdrop on the leaders. It would have been much easier with my phone, but that was still missing. I'd probably have to talk to mom or dad about getting some extra money to buy a new phone, and knowing them I'd only be able to get a cheap flip phone.

Hannah gave me a smile and a wave as she jogged past, and slipped into the tent. After that, it only took five or so minutes for the leadership to start filing out of the tent. Most of them, anyway. Kay was still inside.

"Tally, come in please." Kay called. I snapped out of my spaced out funk and walked into the tent. A map of the entire field was laid out over a pair of fold up tables, with a few coasters in the corners keeping it pinned down. There were also a number of coffee stains in the corners, helping to show the map was 'old.'

"Hi Kay." I said awkwardly. She was leaning over the map, and had the shutter shades in her hand. Thankfully, she didn't look upset.

"Thanks for returning these, Tally." Kay said, smiling at me. "I lost them a few months ago, and thought they were gone for good. Where'd you find them?"

"I found them the other day while I was looking for my phone. They were in the lost and found bin in my tank." I explained.

"A lost and found bin in your tank?"

"Yeah. It's a, uh, small sort of basket where the Bog's ammo boxes would go. The Bandits supply it with snacks and other odds and ends that they find."

Kay frowned at that, and hummed to herself. "That's pretty non-standard. Nobody else I know of has something like that. And you said the Bandits just fill it with stuff they find. Do you have any examples?"

"Uh…" I intoned, wracking my brain for an answer. "I grabbed some headphones from it to watch a movie on my phone. They were just some cheap ear buds, and I put them back when I was done. They weren't mine, I was just borrowing them."

"I see." Kay mused. She tucked the shades into one of her tanker jacket's pockets and faced me fully. "Tally, I don't think your tank's 'Lost and Found' bin is as innocent as you think. The Bandits have been rumored to be kleptomaniac thieves from time to time, though we've never been able to pin anything on them."

Oh.

_Oh._

"Do you think they stole my phone?" I asked, suddenly needing to lean against the table for support.

"That's one possibility."

Half of a curse slipped past my lips before I stopped myself. "What are we gonna do about that?"

"I don't know if we can get your phone back from them. I'm not even completely sure they did steal it, not enough to go and throw an accusation. So, we basically have the same options as last time." Kay admitted. "We can pull you from that tank and put you in a crew that needs a radio op, pull you and make you a substitute TC if someone is out sick or something, or we can leave you with them for the moment. If I had another tank I could put you in command of, I would."

I exhaled softly, and felt myself sag. "A bunch of awful choices... "

Kay nodded sadly.

All three options were equally terrible. I could lose my TC's hatch for however long it was until a new tank opened up, I could step away from active duty and be a substitute TC for whoever needed me, or I could keep my active TC's slot with a crew that might have robbed me!

A part of me wanted to freak out. Just get upset and let all of my anger and rage and self-hatred out in one fell swoop. A few years ago, I might have gone for it, too. But that wasn't who I am, who I'm trying to be.

Instead, my head hung low as I considered which was the lesser of three evils. It would probably be taking the radio operator's position, keeping me actively engaged with Sensha-do, and if something new opened up, I would probably be first in line to take command. But… I couldn't just think of myself here. Amy and Chloe were relying on me to be their teammate in this mini tournament. If I ducked out now, I would be ruining their shot at participating in the tournament as well as my own.

Kay walked over to me and put a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Whatever you want to do, we'll support you. Myself, Arisa, Naomi, Hannah-chan, all of us. We've got your back."

"Tonight, after Sensha-do is over, can we hang out and do something fun together?" I asked.

The question caught Kay by surprise. To a lesser extent, it caught me by surprise. My mouth was moving on its own, working around half formed ideas.

"Sure!" Kay answered.

"Thank you. It is absolutely gonna suck, but I'd like to stick with the Bandits for now."

"Are you sure?" Kay was dumbstruck by the statement.

Abort, abort! It's not worth it, Tally!

"Yeah. Being TC is… it's surprisingly important to me."

Kay nodded. "Okay then! I'll support you one hundred percent, as will the rest of the leadership. If you ever need to get away from them for a bit, feel free to ask. Also feel free to keep your stuff in the leadership back room during Tankery. It's less likely to be stolen there."

"Alright, thank you." I said with a nod. Slowly, I picked myself back up, and tried to shake away the nerves. It didn't help.

The next matches were announced not long after that. The teams would start in the direct opposite corner of where they won last round, and would fight north-south. The last tank that Amy knocked out during the first match was going to be joining our team, and I absolutely did not recognize their TC's name. We were up against Haruna's team. It was going to be a tough match, four on four.

"You okay, TC?" Blondie asked as we mounted up for the match.

"Yeah." I lied quietly with a small nod.

Blondie gave me a look that screamed 'I highly doubt that,' but she just shrugged and dropped down into the driver's seat.

Thankfully, I was the only one unbuttoned as we drove to our starting location. None of the Bandits saw my head hanging low, nor the shaking of my hands as I clenched my fists and slowly released them. They didn't see how weak I really was when I wiped the tears from my face and tried to keep from sobbing.

I composed myself as we approached the starting line, at least to a passable state of readiness. Naomi and Hannah were going to be judging this match, and the keen-eyed gunner was sure to notice if we weren't performing up to standard. So I had to be focused, I had to be ready for anything that came.

"Okay, here's the plan." Amy began over the radio. "We'll split into teams of two. Chloe and I will take the right flank and push around through the forested area, while Tally and Serina will take the left flank, going up the riverbed and keeping low where you can. If they entrench themselves or go up the middle, we'll have them in a crossfire. If one team gets intercepted, engage and pull back. The other team will come to their aid at best possible speed to catch the flanks. Everyone got that and ready to go?"

She got a series of affirmatives, but I delayed mine a moment longer than I should have. I let myself take a quick look around the interior of the turret, see Tuco and Angel ready to go, and then pushed myself up and into an unbuttoned position. We were roughly half a kilometer away from Haruna's team, with bits of hilly terrain, and bits of flat open terrain between us.

I closed my eyes, trying to visualize the upcoming fight. It didn't work, and my mind zeroed in on the potential theft of my stuff. Had they taken anything else besides my phone? What about my old sunglasses, or the earbuds that went missing not too long ago?

Breathe, Tally. In and out. Breathe in, hold for four seconds, breathe out, hold for four. Repeat.

The breathing exercise helped a little. I exhaled one last time, held it for four seconds, and then opened my eyes. I absolutely was not ready for this match, but it looks like I don't have much choice in the matter.

Up in the observation tower, someone fired a flare. It arced upwards before exploding much like a firework. In sequence, we started moving forward. Amy, then Chloe, then our fourth, Serina, and finally my tank. As we started, my mind couldn't help but drift away from tanks, and back towards the Bandits, missing items, and theft.

* * *

Author's Note: I'm really sorry about the delay in posting this chapter. The muse has been on strike recently.


	46. Chapter 45

**Hell On Tracks  
****Part 45**

"Gunner, target three o'clock!" I called, moments after a 75mm shell sailed over my head.

"Can't engage, still dealing with the ones out front!" Angel retorted, her usual grumpiness replaced by a calm determination to get us out of this mess.

"AP up!"

"On the way!"

"Driver, full reverse! Tuco, do we have any smoke?" I called. One round bounced off our front glacis, rocking the tank. No white flag, so we were still in this, still fighting.

"Nope! Two rounds HE, and the rest AP!" Tuco responded. Moments later, our Sherman was reversing at best possible speed, back into the gulley we had just come out of.

"Driver, turn right, and keep reversing!" I called out the course correction just in time, as the tank swerved just enough to avoid hitting Serina's disabled tank.

"AP up!"

"On the way!" Angel called. Her shot flew true, and slammed into the turret ring of one of the two tanks directly in front of us. Which just left one in front of us, and the one on our flank.

Naomi called out the elimination, but I ignored her. I was too focused on frantically scanning the field, trying to find something, anything that would help turn the tide against Haruna's team. The only thing that might help was a small divot in the ground a few hundred yards to our left. Not nearly enough to give us cover, and too far away to help anyways.

Angel managed to get one last shot off before the Sherman on our flank landed a solid blow. Smoke billowed out from the impact zone, and to my left, our white flag popped out with a small but audible 'thwip.'

"Tally has been eliminated! With that, victory goes to Team North!" Naomi called over the general radio channel.

I slumped against the commander's cupola, keeping my head outside the turret. This was my fault. If I had been a little more focused, a little more thoughtful, we would never have run into that trap trying to help Chloe and Amy. Maybe I would have come up with a plan that didn't have us getting defeated in detail, too far away from the other pair to provide assistance.

As the adrenaline faded from my system, I pulled myself fully out of the turret. It left a cold pit of doubt in my stomach, one that gnawed away at all of my choices over the past few days. Was I really worthy of joining the Tankery Team's leadership? Was deciding to stick with the Bandits the best move available to me?

I could hear Blondie hammering the power reset switch inside the tank, and swearing with increased frustration when it didn't work. The echo of her irate words coming out of the open hatches only seemed to exacerbate my mood.

"Hey, TC!" Blondie called, breaking her chain of curses.

Before I could turn to deal with whatever her problem was, Tuco interrupted. "She's having a moment. What do you need?"

"Power reset's no working. We're gonna need a tow."

I let my head hang with shame as Tuco called the tow in. There wasn't anything wrong with needing a tow, but something about the way Tuco intercepted the request just made me feel worse.

* * *

Naomi and Hannah came around in an M20 armored utility car to pick up the crews of the various stuck tanks, so that we didn't have to wait for the heavy trucks to arrive to get off the field. I hopped in and was admitted to the back of the cab, while the Bandits actually volunteered to stay behind with the tank.

"You did great out there, Tally!" Hannah said cheerfully, as she brought the armored car around a particularly sharp corner on the way back up to the tank park.

"Indeed. You reacted well to your teammates getting attacked, and it's just unfortunate that you got ambushed by them in such a way. If you hadn't lost your partner, I'd put better than even odds on you winning that engagement." Naomi added.

The words were meant to be uplifting, but they only made me feel worse. Naomi gave me a pat on the shoulder, but I flinched away before a second pat could land.

"Right, sorry." Naomi apologized quickly, and brought her hand back to her lap.

My reaction to the pats killed the conversation, and we sat in silence for the rest of the ride, listening to the radio.

* * *

I waved goodbye as I hopped out of the M20, and set off towards the forest. I needed to be alone, to clear my head. I had too many doubts hammering around my head like HE shells against a poorly entrenched position. The bombardment was getting worse, and I was likely to snap if I didn't get away.

So I walked. This section of the forest was vaguely familiar, and soon enough I stumbled across a slightly worn path through the underbrush. With nothing better to do, I followed it, wondering where it would lead.

My heart sank when I came across a familiar clearing. The benches had been moved around a bit, and it wasn't pouring rain this time, but it was familiar all the same. This was where Kay and the others had interrogated me last time we were here. I tried to suppress a shiver running down my spine, and failed miserably.

"It's okay, Tally. It was an honest mistake. They didn't mean to hurt you." I said to myself as I walked over to one of the benches. My knees gave out as I tried to sit down, and I landed heavily. I tried to pace myself through a breathing exercise, calm myself down.

One way or another, this was my fault. I'd gotten overly excited about just being in a tank, an actual tank, and then I'd screwed everything up. Two friendly fire incidents in as many matches when I started out, and as soon as I'd gotten myself back in a TC's hatch, I felt like everything was going downhill again.

The tears running down my nose and dropping to the ground between my feet was the first indication that I was crying, and it was all I needed for the dam to break loose. Heavy sobs racked my body, and tears flowed freely. I lost track of time, just letting everything out.

"Tally?" An unexpected voice asked. For a moment, I didn't look up, and instead tried to breathe, clear my eyes, and just generally make myself somewhat presentable. When I finally did look up, Jane frowned, and rushed over to my side. "Are you hurt?"

"N-no." I choked out past a sob. I let my head hang low again, refusing to meet Jane's eyes. She may have been incredibly weird, but there was a wisdom hidden behind her glassy blue eyes and wacky exterior, and I wasn't ready to face that. To face her judgement, and be found wanting.

"Have you been bullied?" Jane asked, moving to a comfortable sitting position next to me.

The question made me pause, and consider what had been going on. When I did speak up, I didn't do so with confidence. "I… I don't think so?"

It certainly didn't feel like I was being bullied. Sure, the Bandits were a little disrespectful, but that was how they talked to everybody. Yet something cast doubt on the surety of my answer. Something about the way they treated me… I just couldn't place my finger on it.

"There there, it's okay." Jane said, reaching over to pat my back. She retracted her hand when I flinched away from the touch. "What's going on?"

It was a simple question, but one with many consequences. "I lost my cellphone the other day, and that's had me on edge. Add in an unexpected surprise last night and this morning, and things going wrong today, and, well…"

"I see…" Jane said. She reached out to give me some form of comforting personal contact, but retracted her hand before she got close enough for me to flinch away. "Is that why you weren't at lunch yesterday? You were looking for your phone?"

My mouth was suddenly very dry, and after a moment of failing to form words, I just nodded.

"I'll have to keep an eye out for it, then." Jane let out a small laugh, probably at some internal joke. "What does it look like?"

"It's a smartphone in a green case. Lock screen image is a picture of myself and a friend in front of an M4 Sherman." I looked up, though not at Jane, and took a breath. My tears had run dry, and my sobbing had died off. More than anything, I felt tired.

"Okay!" Jane let that hang in the air for a moment. "Do you want to stay here?"

I looked around the clearing, taking in the scene. It looked basically like a camp site, but this camp site only held bad memories for me. A few benches, a campfire pit, and a bunch of open ground. That's all it took to send me down a path of bad memories. "No. Let's go."

Jane was on her feet in an instant, while I was much slower. My legs shook for a moment, but I quickly found my stability. She led the way down the path, occasionally looking back to make sure I was still there.

"How'd you find this place?" I asked, a little way down the trail.

"I just stumbled across the trail, and decided to follow it." Jane answered. I didn't quite believe her answer, but like so many other oddities about her, I ignored that disbelief. If she wanted to enigmatic, I certainly wasn't the one to stop her.

Our path took us back to the tank park, and after a quick check to see if my tank had arrived yet (it hadn't), we swiftly moved along to the seating arrangements at Camp Intrepid. Jane's parents had claimed some seats with blankets and seat pads, and they set one out for me as we approached.

"Mom, Dad, this is Tally. Tally, these are my parents." Jane said, introducing everyone. Her parents extended their hands, and I shook them. Both of them had firm grips, but her mom's grip had some sort of steel hidden beneath the surface, it was that solid. They introduced themselves as Ari and John Richardson.

"It's nice to meet you." I said, once the hands had been shaken.

"We've heard good things about you, Tally. Jane doesn't make friends easily, so it's good to see her making new ones." Her mom said.

"Moooom." Jane complained. That got a good chuckle out of everyone, and the four of us settled down to watch the still ongoing match. It was turning out to be a slog of a match, and unless one of the teams pulled something soon, I wasn't seeing a swift end to the match.

As it turned out, there wasn't a swift end to the match. It was a slog the whole way through, and I'm fairly certain that someone had got on the radio and told them to hurry up because both teams made near identical moves at the same time.

* * *

I hung out with Jane and her family while we waited for the announcements about who would be moving on to the next round. Before the announcements came out, though, Kay came over, looking for me.

"There you are, Tall- Sir!" Kay paused halfway through my name and snapped ramrod straight.

"At ease." Jane's dad said, waving Kay down. I gave them a look of confusion, so he leaned over to me. "I'm her mom's direct superior."

"Ah." I ah'd.

"Anyways. Tally, can I talk to you for a bit?" Kay asked. She didn't look super serious, but she had a level of focus to her that wasn't usually there. "In private?"

"Uhhh, sure." I said, standing up. I gave a wave to Jane and her family before following the team captain off. She was moving with a purpose, and I nearly had to jog to keep up.

We found ourselves near where the leadership tent had been set up. Not in the tent, but within shouting distance, in case something came up.

"Don't worry, you aren't in trouble." Kay led off with, which set off an alarm bell. Was there something I might have been in trouble for? "I'm just worried about you, and wanted to discuss this before the announcements."

"You're worried about me." I repeated.

"Yeah… I know you really want to stay in a TC's slot, but I don't feel good about keeping you with the Bandits. They've caused you a lot of trouble, and it doesn't look like it'll stop any time soon." Kay said.

"Is this about my phone?" I asked.

"Sort of? It's what brought the whole thing to the forefront of my mind, but… you were more energetic while you were in the M6 under Arisa. You got your own M4 back, and now you're…" Kay gestured to all of me. "You weren't doing well in the prematch, and you've clearly cried sometime between then and now."

I frowned, arguments springing to mind. I imagined myself snarking at Kay like Marie would, or shouting at her, or something. But those didn't feel right, so I just frowned and listened.

"I'm worried about you. When we talked before the last match, and you said you wanted to stay with the Bandits because you were a TC with them, I… I felt like you were making a bad decision. Taking the worst option because it dangled a shiny in front of you." Kay trailed off. "That's a bad analogy. You're taking the rough and unstable path because there's a keep at the end of it which you can use for cover, but the other paths are safer and provide similar covers, just not as immediately obvious."

"What would you say I do, then?" I asked quietly.

"I don't know. If I could, I'd transfer you away from the Bandits and into a new TC's slot. I might do that anyways." Kay admitted.

"And who would you stick with the Bandits in exchange? Who would you force a bad crew upon to get me away from them?" The question was harsh, straight to the point.

"I don't know… I'd have to look at the roster."

"No." The monosyllabic word came out hard, like a T28 superheavy claiming a pathway as its own. "I won't let you help me and throw another TC into the mess that is the Bandits' tank. I can bear it."

I wasn't going to accept any argument from Kay, and I think she knew it. "Are you sure you don't want to consider being a substitute or temporarily move to another position? Just long enough for a crew to open up."

"I'm sure. Being a substitute sounds like I would be doing nothing a vast majority of the time, and working with an unfamiliar crew the rest of the time, and as for another crew position… I hated being in the M6, and I've tried out all of the slots in a Sherman. Unless you want the girl who rolled a Sherman to be a driver, I'm not doing it."

"I still feel like you're making a bad decision." Kay said.

"Who knows, I may very well be. But I can't see any other option that works without me absolutely hating what I do." I said.

Kay breathed in, and exhaled heavily. "Okay. If you need anything, and I mean _anything_ related to dealing with being a TC or the Bandits, ask. Bring it up, talk with me, and the rest of leadership. We invited you to join us, and that means we'll help you, just as we expect you to help from time to time."

"I will." I promised.

"Okay!" Kay cheered. "Naomi and Hannah-chan have said that you and your crew performed the best in your match. As much as I would rather not potentially send the Bandits into a tournament match after what happened with them last time we tried, I will leave the choice up to you. Do you think you're up for the extra work of dealing with them in a tournament and just generally working with them more?"

I didn't even have to think about the answer. "If we did the best, then we should move along. I've said I'm gonna work with them, so I don't have reason to not follow the rules."

Kay gave me a look, before shrugging. "Okay. You had better go get ready then, because you're up in the next match."

I gave her a nod before turning on one foot and jogging off for the tank park. Partway through the jog, an idea popped into my head as to how to deal with getting away from the Bandits while still being TC. Kay was right that I wanted to stay TC more than I wanted to get away from the Bandits, but that didn't mean I couldn't try something to get the one without the other.


	47. Chapter 46

**Hell On Tracks  
****Part 46**

I sat down in the offered chair, utterly exhausted. Arisa put a still-lukewarm hamburger down on the table in front of me, and I dug in without a second thought.

The final match of the day had turned into a slog at every corner of the match. On the one hand, the Bandits were rather uppity over the course of the match, though thankfully never when we were in actual combat. On the other hand, the three Combat Company veterans had been incredibly rude and demeaning to me and Haruna, not trusting any of our decisions, and calling the third tank in our platoon the "babysitter." That alone had nearly been enough to piss me off, but the incredibly long match just drained me of the energy to actually do anything about it.

At least we'd won. That alone had the rest of the team in a rather celebratory mood, which I was sure would carry over into the traditional end of the week party at the Tankery garage.

"Okay everyone, time for a quick debriefing of the day's events." Kay said, more to the rest of the leadership team than to me. From a corner of the command tent, the Chieftain looked up from where he was typing away at a laptop to tune in. "Seven matches is a long day, especially with dinner in the middle of the last one."

"With the winning team added to the first round tournament roster, we still have the one wildcard slot left to fill. I saw some excellent performances on the losing team in the final round, and they deserve some appraisal." Arisa said, before listing off a few TC names that I didn't recognize. Hannah quickly jotted the names down on a clipboard.

"There were a few crews whose gunnery wasn't up to par." Naomi said. "If possible, I'd like to conduct a few days of gunnery training with the Chief's help before the match."

"Any teams on the roster?" Kay asked.

"No, but extra practice never hurts."

"Okay, I'm marking Monday and Tuesday for gunnery training. Does that mean drivers and TCs are going to have individual practice days, too?" Hannah asked.

"Probably, yeah." Arisa answered. "Can you handle driver training while Kay and I lead TCs? I'm thinking we can have them practice coordinating with each other and with multiple other platoons at once."

"I can do that." Hannah said with a nod.

Kay put a finger to her chin as she pondered something. Everyone waited a moment for her to speak up. "For TC training, let's have them split into three groups in separate rooms, and use the strategy sim to keep them in the dark of where everyone is except by radio. The Chief can play OpFor."

"Who would lead the third group?" I asked. My burger was already gone, and I wiped a bit of ketchup off my face after asking.

"You." Kay said simply. I froze like a deer in headlights. "This is a good example of what we would need you to do as a part of leadership."

"Oh." I oh'd quietly. I'd expected to be eased into the whole 'leadership' thing, instead of being thrown to the sharks right away. Stuff like helping with planning, or taking notes. Stuff like that, not… leading a group of TCs, many of whom would have more experience than me.

"Don't worry, it's not that hard. You'll mostly just be updating their positions on the overall map, and informing them of any details they might want about an area." Kay said.

"It's kind of like leading DnD, except you don't have to worry about controlling NPCs or the enemy, and the world is already laid out for you." Arisa said, like that made anything better.

The meeting carried on a little longer, going over some details and tidbits of the day. Then, we packed up the tent, map table, and folding chairs, and joined everyone else on the trip back to Saunders. A fair number of the tanks were loaded up onto the transport trucks, being too damaged for easy field repairs, my tank included. Towards the end of the match, we'd taken a shot to the flank that blew out the right side drive wheel. After that, well, it was easy for the followup shot to get the KO.

* * *

By the time we got to the Tankery garage, the party was in full swing. Drinks and light snacks were laid out on a line of tables near the parking lot, and a dance floor had been cleared in the usual assembly area, with pop music blaring over the garage's PA system.

"Okay everyone, let's get these supplies packed up, and then we can get around to joining the party!" Kay said cheerfully. The five members of the leadership team hopped out of the back of the Chief's M3 scout car, and started unloading all of the equipment we'd brought. I took the tent and one of the folding chairs and set off for the storage room, with everyone else trailing behind me. We must have gotten everything, because the Chief pulled away with a wave as soon as we started hauling gear away.

The storage room was a safe haven from the obnoxiously loud music, and I lingered behind as everyone else filed out to join the party. Kay caught my eye before she left, and slipped aside so Naomi could pass her.

"You okay, Tally?" Kay asked.

"Yeah. I'm not really a party person, so I'm probably gonna head back to my dorm." I answered. It had definitely been a long day, and all I was thinking about right now was how comfortable my bed would feel. And making a mental note to thank Aunt Natasha for recommending getting a futon frame for my dorm.

"Would you mind stopping for ice cream on the way to your dorm?" Kay asked, catching me off guard. I blinked at her for a moment. "You asked me if we could do something together tonight, just the two of us. I know a really great ice cream shop that's not too far from here, so I was thinking we could go there and get a bite before you headed home."

"Oh! Yeah, sure!" I responded. I'd completely forgotten asking about that, but the idea of spending some time with Kay brushed aside my general exhaustion, at least for a bit.

"Okay, very nice!" Kay flashed a big thumbs up before leading the way out of the garage. Her jeep was still parked in the parking lot, and we managed to slip out without anyone trying to catch Kay's attention.

The ice cream shop wasn't all that far away, just like Kay had said. Far enough that the open grounds of this end of campus turned a tad more suburban, but not far enough to be in the city part of the ship instead of the school part. It was a quaint little shop, with only a little bit of seating inside. Thankfully, the place was empty. Just myself, Kay, and the young man working the register.

Kay greeted the guy at the register as if they were familiar enough to be friends, while I went to peruse the various flavors of ice cream available. They had your usual assortment of flavors, with a bunch of extra chocolate variants. I eventually just decided to go for an old classic of mint chocolate chip, and got a single scoop in a bowl. Kay, on the other hand, immediately zeroed in on the cookie dough ice cream, getting three scoops on a waffle cone.

We sat at one of the small tables in the shop, and for a moment just enjoyed our ice cream and each other's presence. The silence didn't last though, as Kay spoke up not long after devouring her first scoop of ice cream (I was maybe a quarter of the way through my own ice cream).

"Why'd you get into Tankery?" She asked.

I frowned, remembering the sequence of events that had led me to picking up Tankery as a hobby. "It was a while back, I was still in middle school. I'd had to move schools due to some bad bullying, and Rach sorta took me under her wing. I wasn't in the greatest state, emotionally, and Rach told me about Sensha-do to try and help cheer me up. My parents watched the sport, but I wasn't really into it until Rach got involved." I paused for a moment. "You know how all the adverts say stuff about how Sensha-do makes you a stronger and more confident woman?"

Kay nodded, probably having an inkling of where I was going with this.

"We bought into that ideal. Unfortunately, neither the middle school we were going to, nor our high school actually has a team. There just isn't enough open space in the area to use for tanks. It's all either fairly thick forests, hills, or already developed. So, we just became fans and entertained ourselves by becoming tank nerds… though I'm not sure how well that's worked, with how many tanks I just don't recognize around here… What about you?"

Kay chuckled at my attempt at a joke. "My sister and I got into Tankery in junior high. Crewed an FT together. Mom recommended that we try to join a sport or martial art, and Tankery was the only one where we could do it together."

"How long did sticking together like that last?" I asked. If my sisters were anything to go by, well, sticking the two of them in an enclosed space for any amount of time would invariably end up with some argument or another.

"Throughout junior high. Then El decided she wanted to go off to Aoshidan for their culinary crafts, while I chose Saunders. Despite that, we're somehow both team captains."

"Hold on a second." I held up a hand as a thought sprang to mind. "Your sister's name is El?"

"Yeah?" Kay raised an eyebrow in confusion, and then dove right back into her rapidly disappearing ice cream.

"You're Kay, and your sister is El. Are your parents just bad at naming things or something?"

"What do you- oooohhhh…" Kay's eyes widened as she realized what I was going for. "Dang it, Tally! Now I can never unsee that!"

"It's not my fault you and your sister were named after subsequent letters in the alphabet!"

We both quickly broke down in laughter at that.

The rest of the night passed rather quickly. I was still worn out, and the infusion of sugar into my body could only keep me up so long. Once we finished our ice cream, Kay was somehow done before me despite buying three times as much, Kay gave me a ride back to my dorm, and I barely had enough time to clean myself up from a long day in the tank before I collapsed in bed and fell asleep.

* * *

Sunday morning was nice and quiet. I spent the morning cleaning up my room and doing some much-needed laundry, and forwarded Eclair's response about the video logs to Kay. The Ooarai-Maginot match video was attached, but she wanted to see about getting something in return, probably video logs of a match from us.

Once that was all taken care of, I headed down to the Tankery garage. A few of the mechanic girls gave me familiar waves, but I wasn't headed towards the repair bay to help out with whatever tank needed attention to get ready by Wednesday. Instead, my route brought me over to the corner with the oddball tanks. The M6 had taken its usual spot after getting two weeks of sunlight, and one of the Locusts looked partially disassembled, for whatever reason.

Though I wanted to work on the Hellcat, it was not my target today. One of the two M5A1s was, specifically the one that Jane had shown special attention to last week. I grabbed a basic toolkit and the M5's manual on the way over, and then set about inspecting the tank, and seeing what would need repairing or maintaining.

It was not nearly as bad as I had feared. Two of the bogies were busted, both on the right hand side, and the gun was loose in its mounting, but the engine and transmission were both in remarkable shape for a vehicle that hadn't been used in a while. There were a bunch of minor issues that needed dealing with, but the two big things I'd been worrying about were thankfully not an issue.

I'd just finished repairing the second bogie when a familiar face rounded the corner and approached me. "Oh, hi Lina!"

"Hey Tally." Lina greeted me. I stood up from where I'd been attaching the bogie, and wiped some sweat from my forehead, smearing it with grease in the process. "You look like you've been busy."

I laughed awkwardly. I hadn't actually _told_ anyone what I was doing with the Stuart. "Yeah…"

"Why the Stuart?" Lina asked. "There plans to use it soon?"

"Not as far as I'm aware, no." I answered quickly. For a moment, I pondered my options. I'd been planning on asking Jane and April to be my crew, since the two man turret only made a three person crew necessary, but at the same time, Lina had offered to be part of my crew if I needed her. "I'm just working a backup plan to get away from the Bandits after Wednesday's match."

"Oh?" Lina crossed her arms, and gave me a look.

"They've been causing problems, despite me being back with them for less than a week, and I'm not sure if staying with them is a good idea." I explained.

"And what's the Stuart got to do with any of that?"

I took a deep breath, trying to center myself before explaining. "The M4 is nice and all, but I just want to be in a small scout vehicle. Something that can go fast. But the Bandits would never go for that, and so I'd need to recruit a new crew to have a shot at getting the Stuart, plus, it gets me away from the Bandits."

"I could have told you those three were no good from the moment you met them. In fact, I think I did say almost exactly that. That and they cheat at poker." Lina deadpanned.

"You did." I admitted, deflating a little bit.

"Well, no use getting your panties in a twist over it now. I assume you were gonna contact me about joinin' your team?"

For a split second, I froze. How do you tell someone 'no' like that? But I didn't let myself stay frozen. "I, ah, well… You offered as a loader, and a Stuart's TC is also her loader."

Lina frowned. "And who were you plannin' on askin', then?"

"Jane and April. April's been asking me to let her try out a tank cannon ever since I mentioned it to her at a bazaar, and I just have a good feeling about sticking Jane in the driver's seat." I admitted. Lina's frown deepened to a full scowl.

"I get the whole two person turret don't need a loader thing, but those weirdos? You got an entire school of girls t' pick from, and you pick _those two?_"

"Hey, back off!" I nearly shouted. It startled Lina enough to cut off her rant. "Those two are my friends, no matter how weird you think they are. I would kindly appreciate it if you didn't try and badmouth them while talking to me."

"Right, sorry." Lina apologized. "I'll just leave you to your work then. Offer still stands if you ever need a loader proper, though."

"Thank you. If I need one, you'll be the first to know." I said. The mechanic gave me a nod before turning around and heading off to some other part of the garage. Once she was gone, I exhaled, releasing the tension in my shoulders that hadn't been there a moment ago.

If I ever actually got the Hellcat, I was gonna ask her to be my loader, but something told me that dealing with her dislike of Jane and April was going to cause issues if not dealt with before then…


	48. Interlude: Yukari 1

**Hell On Tracks  
****Interlude  
****Yukari 1**

"I now stand in front of Saunders University High School." Akiyama Yukari said to her video camera. "Now then, let's infiltrate it!"

This wasn't Yukari's first time to the legendarily welcoming school ship, but she was nervous nonetheless. Her intelligence gathering mission, though Nishizumi-dono didn't know about it, could end up being the critical piece that ended up winning tomorrow's game for Ooarai. Step one to making sure it was successful was making sure she didn't draw too much attention.

Okay, step one was actually getting to the American-themed school ship, but the crew of the Sunkus cargo ship had been incredibly welcoming, though they did ask her to help out with a few basic tasks in return for transport. They'd been just as surprised by her coming aboard in a Sunkus uniform as her family would be when she got home. What her dad didn't know about how she funded her tank memorabilia collection couldn't hurt him.

So step two was to not attract attention. Her friend had left her a spare uniform (thankfully they were similar enough in sizes that it _should_ fit) in a locker nearish to the school's entrance, and given her the code to get in.

Yukari tried her best to move with a purpose while she scanned the lockers on the wall, looking for locker 2239. It wasn't easy to keep up the purposeful movement when the locker didn't appear to even be on this floor. Checking the school's upper story had been similarly unproductive, though a quick glance at the nearest locker helped Yukari figure out that the locker she was looking for was belowdecks. The zero thousands being upstairs was a dead giveaway.

Once she knew where to look, zeroing in on the target locker was easy, and Yukari swiftly opened it up. As promised a spare uniform was neatly folded up, waiting for her. There was a note, too.

_Akiyama-san,_

_Here's the uniform you wanted to borrow. If you want to come visit me, I'll be in my dorm room between 12:30 and 2:00. It's on the third deck, sector seven, room 3712, roughly two blocks away from the CDC. _

_According to Tally, Sensha-do practice begins at 3:00, at the garage. It's on the main deck in sector three, and it's very easy to find._

_-Jane Richardson_

Yukari smiled at the note from her friend, and stuffed the uniform under one arm. There was still a little bit of time before Jane said she would be in her dorm, which meant time to explore the school! Well, after she changed into the borrowed uniform.

It didn't take very long at all to zero in on a bathroom, and Yukari slipped inside without so much as an aside glance from the students near her. A part of her wanted to grin at how easy this was, but the real challenge was yet to come.

"Now then, since I have infiltrated successfully, I shall now change int-" Yukari caught herself before doing something she would definitely need to edit out of the video. That had very nearly been embarrassing.

Once she was dressed in the Saunders uniform, Yukari took a moment to admire herself in the bathroom's mirror. Though the fit of the uniform wasn't perfect, she cleaned up nicely.

* * *

It was amazing how friendly the student body at Saunders was. Enough so that Yukari decided she would keep a clip of it in her video for Nishizumi-dono and the other members of Anglerfish Team. Though it was fairly obvious that she was new here, people always responded cheerfully to her greetings in the hallways, and a few of them even exchanged small talk with her.

Yukari's path took her around to the cafeteria, where she quietly bought a sandwich for lunch. Sitting alone on a bench out in the sunshine and hastily eating her lunch was an unfortunately familiar feeling, but Yukari brushed off the spur of loneliness by checking the time on her cellphone. She'd actually spent more time exploring than planned, and Jane was probably waiting for her!

Her path took her down two levels, and into the maze that made up most school ships lower decks. Like Ooarai, Saunders' lower levels were actually well organized, but it was still incredibly easy to get turned around in the tight corridors. Unlike Ooarai, Saunders' naval studies students were incredibly friendly and respectful. Their blue uniforms were much looser than the tight (but snazzy) gray blazer, and looked rather comfortable to move around in.

Yukari got lost twice, and both times a helpful naval studies student pointed her in the right direction. Later than she would have liked, Ooarai's super spy infiltrator arrived at the door to her friend's dorm room. She knocked twice, and heard a commotion inside before a familiar face opened the door.

"Akiyama-san!" Jane Richardson exclaimed, stepping aside to let Yukari in. "Please, come in!"

The room wasn't what Yukari expected in the slightest. Despite being nestled deep in the ship's interior, the room was incredibly well lit, with light streaming in from a false window as well as from numerous lamps spread around the room. Pictures of ships lined the walls, from carriers that the school ships were based upon, to the various types of battleships. There was also another person in the room.

"Oh, you two haven't met yet, have you." Jane stated once the door was shut. "Akiyama-san, meet my cousin, Aki. Aki, meet Akiyama-san."

"It's nice to meet you, Akiyama-san." Aki-chan said, bowing towards Yukari.

"I-it's nice to meet you too, Aki-san." Yukari said, stiffly returning the bow. She had certainly not been expecting this. "Please, call me Yukari."

"I'm really sorry about this, Yukari." Jane said, rejoining the other two in the modest seating available in the dorm room. "I wasn't expecting Aki-chan to show up today. Her visit was fairly out of the blue."

Yukari wasn't sure what to think of Jane's cousin. Both girls were dressed in the blue naval studies uniform, but the taller dark haired girl was a lot more stiff and formal than Yukari expected of a Saunders student.

Once pleasantries were exchanged, Jane brought some snacks over from a very small refrigerator and pantry. A sliced apple, cheese slices, and crackers. It was a light, but hearty American snack, and surprisingly tasty. Yukari ate her snack slowly, keeping up small talk with Jane and getting to know Aki a little bit. Jane's cousin was rather hesitant to actually try the snack, and it was only Jane's promises that it wasn't a bother that convinced Aki to actually try some.

"What brings you to Saunders, Yukari?" Jane asked, once Aki finally took a bite. "You mentioned wanting to know when Saunders' Sensha-do practice started."

Yukari tapped her fingers together hesitantly. Did she really want to tell Jane? "Ah, well…"

Jane was giving her what could very easily be called puppy dog eyes. It was rather unnerving, and Yukari's will to resist broke quickly.

"Ooarai is playing Saunders tomorrow in the big Sensha-do tournament, and we know we're badly outclassed. Last night, Nishizumi-dono was wondering what their plans were, because if we know what those are we can plan around them, and I thought maybe I could come and spy on the Saunders team and learn their plans for Nishizumi-dono." Yukari admitted.

Aki gave Yukari a curious look. "Is that allowed?"

Yukari nodded vigorously. "Pre-match reconnaissance is approved. You just can't use external stuff like planes for recon during a match."

"Ah." Aki ah'd. The girl looked around the room awkwardly, and conversation ground to a halt. Yukari took the opportunity to grab another apple slice from the table, and enjoy the food Jane had set out.

Conversation resumed moments later, and Yukari spent the next hour or so chatting with Jane and Aki. She knew of Jane's desire to follow in her father's footsteps and join the US Navy, so it shouldn't have been as surprising as it was that Aki wanted to do the same, except for the MSDF.

Their meeting came to an abrupt end when Jane's phone buzzed.

"Oh, let me get that real quick." Jane said, moving to grab the device from the counter. "Oh, I need to go. I promised Tally that I would look for her missing cell phone, and I need to do that before my next class."

Yukari nodded. "I should probably go too, then."

"Thank you for visiting, Yukari!" Jane said with a smile. Before Yukari could move to the door, Jane gave her the directions to the Sensha-do garage. Then, with a wave, Yukari was out the door and off towards her main objective.

* * *

Yukari followed Jane's instructions, and found her way to Saunders' Tankery garage. Students were still filing in, dressed in a mix of the regular Saunders uniform and the much more practical brown tanker's jacket with blue skirt. It was an opportunity to explore the garage, see what they had, and hopefully not be too suspicious.

Naturally, the first thing that caught Yukari's attention was the tanks. The M4 Sherman wasn't the awesomest tank ever (7TP may have been Yukari's favorite tank, but the title of Awesomest Tank Ever went to Anglerfish Team's Panzer IV), but the sheer amount of tanks Saunders had was astounding, and with such variety, too! Her narration into the video camera probably showed her hype a bit too much, but Yukari couldn't help it. "This is amazing! The Shermans are parked in such neat rows and they have so many of them! There are M4A1s, and over here are the basic model M4s."

Her narration had a quick hiccup as Yukari noticed the next row of tanks. Eight M4A6 medium tanks, neatly lined up. They were painted differently than the other Shermans, but what really caught Yukari's attention was the three girls working maintenance on the nearest one. Not only did Saunders have these incredibly rare tanks, they were using them! "Wow! They only made 75 vehicles of the A6 variant!"

'_Oh no, they heard me.'_ Yukari thought to herself as the three girls doing maintenance turned and looked in her direction. Thankfully, she didn't freeze up and falter under their attention. "Good luck in the first match!"

The three girls gave her thumbs ups, and then turned back to their work, and Yukari let out a sigh of relief. That could have been bad. A few other people looked her way, but nobody made any move to stop her.

Yukari kept her video camera recording as she moved into the rows of tanks, looking at the variations, wondering what Ooarai would have to face in tomorrow's match. There were so many that the loader couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed. So many tanks, and so many of them in active use. The claim that they had enough to field three full teams was more than true. The sheer amount was staggering. They had everything, from basic model M4s, to the British Firefly variant with the legendary 17pdr, to Sherman Jumbos with the increased armor, and all sorts of variants in between.

An interesting tidbit that Yukari noted to her video was the amount of repair tools scattered around the garage. There was a table with toolkits every few tanks, though only at the walls, and like the tanks, they were all seeing use.

Her tour of the garage ended with quite the surprise. Yukari had to suppress a squeal of excitement as she gazed upon the few tanks Saunders had that weren't M4 Shermans. They had a pair of M3 Lees, the same as Rabbit Team's tank, a trio of M22 Locusts, a pair of M5A1 Stuarts, an M6 heavy tank, and an M18 Hellcat! Immediately, Yukari gravitated towards the Locusts.

"The M22 Locust!" Yukari narrated. "It was designed to be deployed to the enemy's rear alongside paratroopers, but took too long to be developed and was unreliable when it was finished. Nevertheless, it saw service with British and American paratrooper forces. Only 830 were built during the war, and they only saw limited service during and after. Its 37mm cannon was the same as on the M3 Lee and the Stuart family of light tanks, and was regarded as inadequate when it was finally deployed in 1944."

"You sound quite knowledgeable." A mysterious person said, catching Yukari off guard during her quick walkaround of one of the M22s. Yukari looked around, before finally seeing the redhead on a roller beneath one of the M5A1s. Her hands were covered in grease and oil, though her green tank top was immaculate. The redhead sat up, and momentarily offered a hand to Yukari to shake, though pulled it back after noticing how grimy it was. "I'm Tally."

Yukari panicked for a moment. She didn't want to give her actual name to anyone on the Tankery team, even if Tally looked more like she was part of the mechanics team. "My friends call me Oddball." _Kelly's Heroes_. Surely it would make a good cover that nobody would suspe-

"Kelly's Heroes?" Tally asked casually. Yukari nodded, not trusting her mouth for the moment. "It's a good movie. So, what brings you around here, Sergeant Oddball?"

"I'm just visiting, and my friends who couldn't come wanted to see what Saunders was like, so I'm recording everything." Yukari lied. It was an easy lie, for the best lies were the ones with a grain of truth to them.

Tally hummed, tapping her fingers against her skirt, leaving grease spots on it. "Well, welcome to Saunders. This is our 'Oddball collection.' It's the tanks that don't see much if any use, but could still be used one day. Except for the Lees. Those are trainers, getting people prepared for the Shermans."

"So you won't be using any of these in tomorrow's match?" It was an innocent enough question, and one that could shine a bit of light on her mission.

"Nah." Tally said in English, before switching back to her accented Japanese. "M4s are more reliable, and, well, I doubt we'll need anything more than them against Ooarai."

Yukari bristled at the comment, but held her outburst. And, Tally did have a point, Ooarai was going into the match severely undermanned and undergunned. Rabbit Team's Lee had the same 75mm cannon as the Shermans, and the only better gun than Saunders' team was on Hippo Team's StuG.

"I should be going. Have a good day!" Yukari said, hiding her anger behind a facade of cheer. She quietly slipped away, and it seemed just in time, too. Kay, Saunders' team captain, was approaching from behind Tally, and Yukari watched her get the redhead's attention.

That had been another close call. No reason to take any more. Time to just join the crowd near the main stage, take a seat, and listen to whatever Kay had to announce.

It was only a few minutes before Kay took the stage, with her two vice captains. Yukari didn't know their names, but she did recognize their faces. The shorter vice captain had a notecard in hand, and she started the briefing.

"Now then, let me announce the vehicles for the first engagement." She said with a dull voice. As she announced tanks, their images appeared on the screen behind her, and Yukari idly wondered if Ooarai could get something like that. "One Firefly. One Sherman A1 75mm. Eight M4 75mm."

"They're not going easy on us..." Yukari murmured into her video camera, careful to not let anyone overhear. It was difficult, mostly because she was so surprised at the idea of Saunders bringing a Firefly to the match. Ooarai didn't have any heavy tanks where the extra penetration was necessary. They didn't even have any heavy tanks!

Kay took center stage next, her smile brimming with confidence. "Now, let's decide on a flag tank!"

Yukari made a comment to her video as the Saunders team decided on which tank would be their flag. In no time at all, they settled on the M4A1, commanded by vice commander Arisa, whichever one that was. Finally, Kay opened the room to questions.

Almost immediately, Yukari stuck her hand up. It was an incredibly risky question, but if she got it answered and got away, it would be everything she needed. "What will our formation be?"

"Good question!" Kay said cheerfully. "We can't form full tank platoons this time, so we'll have three tanks to a platoon. They'll form their own company."

"What will the flag tank be defended with?" Yukari ventured. She was pushing her luck, but she was so close…

"Nothing!" Kay answered. The answer caught Yukari by surprise, and her mouth motored on without her.

"I'm pretty sure the other team has a StuG III."

"It'll be fine. We can crush a single tank."

The crowd let out a gasp at Kay's boast, which nearly hid the words of Kay's other vice captain. "I don't think I've seen you before…"

Yukari didn't like swearing as much as some of the others, but the Americans had a rather appropriate one for the situation she found herself in. _Shit._ More murmurs spread around the crowd as they looked closely at Yukari, and slowly realized that nobody in the crowd recognized her.  
"State your class and grade!" Kay demanded.

"Uh…" Yukari froze for a moment. "Sixth Armored Division, Oddball, Sergeant third class!"

Kay broke out in laughter while the vice captain that had pointed Yukari out called out her status as an imposter and spy. With no time to waste, Yukari booked it for the nearest door. Thankfully, the crowd seemed too stunned to actually try and stop her before she was in the hallway, though a few of them were right behind her.

Yukari burst around a corner and slammed face first into someone else. She caught flashes of red hair as the two tumbled to the ground. Before she could properly scramble to her feet, Yukari's pursuers caught up to her. They picked her up off the ground by the arms, and hauled her to a room, where they placed her under watch.

Akiyama Yukari, Super Spy, had been caught.


End file.
